Kakashi's Tale of Woe
by Thefinalkey
Summary: When being sent back in time you take certain things for granted. For example, you know all of your friends and comrades (and probably your enemies too) inside and out. Nothing about them can take you by surprise. So when Kakashi goes back in time in order to save the world, he certainly wasn't expecting all of this. Mostly Crack with some drama and emotional goodness.
1. Chapter 1: The True Professor

**So here's the deal. I have had a few (a lot) of ideas running through my head for quite a long time. Some I've even held onto for years. I feel like once I start writing something I should do so when I have the motivation and time to do so. I have the time, now all I need to do is muster up the motivation to see it all to the end. I have just posted the first chapter to most of my ideas. Hopefully, this way if I find my interest declining in one area I can work on the other until it builds back up (I will always love my stories and something always happens to pick the idea back up later on). I am posting this beginning bit in all of my chapters, so lets see what happens shall we? Also, if anyone who reads any of these stories likes them please give me some input on what you did or did not like (flames will be ignored or laughed at). I really want to improve as a writer.**

**Summary: When Kakashi was sent back in time he knew everything that was going to happen and how to fix it. What he didn't know was that there was some things he had missed all his life, and with every change he made they were coming to light. His friend's might be even crazier than he thought they were, and they were ready to take the future into their own hands. Crack!fic but with plenty of drama and adventure too.**

**Chapter 1: The True Professor**

"Sandaime-sama," a young, five year old Kakashi bowed.

Sarutobi smiled sadly at the boy. It had only been a month since Kakashi lost his father. The boy had not been adapting well, not that many could tell. He was rigidly professional and showed little to no vulnerability. It made the Hokage's heart ache.

"Hello Kakashi-kun, what can I do for you?" The boy straightened and Sarutobi frowned in concern. "What happened to your eye?"

Kakashi lifted his small hand to finger the bandages covering his left eye. "Mah, well, that's part of what I need to talk to you about. Do you mind if we make this private? It's pretty important."

Sarutobi paused before signaling for his Anbu to leave. He new Kakashi held his pride in a vice like grip, and admitting any form of weakness pained him. If making his guards stand outside was what it would take to get the boy to open up then he would do so happily. He was the Hokage; he could handle himself against a toddler.

"Thank you," Kakashi relaxed before approaching the desk. "I really didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea."

"About what Kakashi-kun?" Sarutobi was shocked at the lack of respect he was showing. He didn't mind at all, but for the boy to be anything but the epitome of polite was almost unheard of. He was even more shocked when Kakashi reached for his hand.

"Well it's not a very pleasant experience. I'd hate to be arrested right off the bat." Kakashi sent him a small smile, which made Sarutobi practically catatonic. This couldn't possibly be Kakashi.

When the tiny hand touched his Sarutobi's eyes shot wide open when a seal suddenly glowed on the back of his hand. Before he could move a wave of pain made his vision dance.

No, not dance. He was seeing… something.

When Kakashi pulled back the connection broke, leaving Sarutobi gasping for breath.

"T-that was-"

"Deep breaths tend to help," Kakashi advised, his posture relaxed but his gaze wary.

Sarutobi took the advise and breathed sharply threw his nose, holding his breath for a moment, before letting it out. He forced himself to calm down as he thought over what he had seen.

"…I'm going to have grandchildren."

Kakashi shot him a blank look, his shoulders slumping. "Uh, that's really what you're choosing to focus on?"

"A grandpa."

"Sandaime-sama-"

"And both of them went and got themselves killed before they could become parents!"

"Sir, while you have my condolences, there is far more important-"

"Fools! And Orochimaru! What is that brat thinking?!"

"A very good point, one I wanted to talk to you about actually, but the main-"

"And Minato. I always new he would be great, why didn't he just let me preform the damn seal? I'm old! How dare he shove the hat back to me!"

Kakashi shook his head despairingly.

"Madara is a bit of a surprise, though vengeful bastards do tend to find their way back often enough."

Kakashi tried to dispel whatever genjutsu he was under. This was all one of Naruto's pranks, he was sure. The idiot blond had fooled him into believing time travel was possible all for the sake of this elaborate ruse.

"Putting a hole in the village is completely unacceptable. Danzo should have been far more concerned about such a thing even being a possibility. I'm going to have to have a long chat with him."

"Kai."

"You do make a rather good Hokage Kakashi-kun, I'll keep that in mind of course."

"Please don't. Kai!"

"Ah, young Naruto. What an interesting child. He was the one who sent you back, yes? What a wonderful Will of Fire."

Kakashi slumped his head in defeat.

"Well," Sarutobi stood up, shaking his head to clear the sudden vertigo at the movement. "This won't do at all. Follow me Kakashi-kun."

The not five year old scratched the back of his head but moved to follow the older man. "…Where are we going?"

Sarutobi waved his hand flippantly, his thoughts racing. "To sign you up for Anbu. I can't let Danzo have any sway over anything so I'll need you at my direct disposal. I'll have to create medical files for your eye as well. Honestly Kakashi-kun, I understand it was a sentimental notion, but is far more attention grabbing than the sharingan. What are you going to do when someone sees it?"

Kakashi didn't pout. "No one is going to see it."

Sarutobi snorted. "Oh, I'm sure someone will."

"I'll say it was an accident," the non-child shrugged.

Sarutobi paused before he opened the door to send Kakashi a dubious look. "A seal etched into your skin and a bright red fox demon eye are not going to be seen as an accident. You and Naruto-kun planned this very well, but some parts are so outrageously ridiculous I'm not entirely sure what to think. It's a good thing you showed me everything, or Kami knows what would have happened."

Kakashi grumbled under his breath. Their plans were perfect, thank you very much.

"Excuse me Owl," Sarutobi walked out into the hall, Kakashi trailing behind, "would you mind getting Panther for me? Tell her to meet me at the hospital."

An Anbu with an Owl mask appeared from the shadows. Sketching a quick salute, he disappeared out the window.

"Come along Kakashi-kun."

"Yes, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi stated blankly, aware of the other Anbu around them. As they made their way out of the tower Naruto's parting words filtered through his thoughts.

_"Don't worry about the old man," Naruto grinned, the smile pulling at the fresh scars on his face. "He'll take care of everything. He might be old, but he's crazy."_

Kakashi had thought his student had meant the famed Hokage was 'crazy strong' or 'crazy smart'. Now he new he was supposed to take it exactly as it was said. The Third Hokage was crazy.

"I wonder if I should join the war too," Sarutobi muttered to himself, missing how Kakashi suddenly paled. "It would certainly hurry things along. We don't have time for petty squabbles."

_'I should never have come back,'_ Kakashi lamented mentally, his eye wandering to the clouds. _'I thought things would be better now. More normal at least.'_

"What do you think about abolishing the council Kakashi-kun?" Sarutobi questioned. The Anbu following them shared looks of disbelief. "They cause far more trouble than they are worth."

"I don't thing that is a good idea Sandaime-sama," Kakashi kept his voice carefully measured.

"I suppose so," Sarutobi nodded. "We wouldn't want to cause a panic. I'll think of something else then."

_'Damn you Naruto, you knew he was like this! How did no one else realize?!'_

Sarutobi suddenly smiled warmly, looking for all the world like a homely, kind old man. "Good afternoon Danzo, how are you?"

Danzo glared at the Hokage from where he had just turned the corner. "Hokage-sama," he greeted stiffly, before his gaze wandered down to Kakashi. "Hatake-san."

"Danzo-sama," Kakashi greeted, bowing his head slightly.

"Sarutobi," Danzo turned back to his rival. "It has come to my attention that-"

"Excuse me Danzo," Sarutobi interrupted, looking sincerely apologetic, "but I am in a bit of a hurry. Kakashi-kun was just attacked and I need to get him to the hospital immediately."

Danzo looked down once more, taking in the bandages around the child's face. "An attack? In the village?"

"Yes," Sarutobi replied solemnly, the air turning tense. "I will be convening the council in a few hours. The one who had attacked Kakashi-kun was impersonating an Anbu."

Danzo looked up sharply. "What?"

"It would seem we have a spy amongst our ranks," the third glared into space, outraged. "We must uproot them as soon as possible."

Kakashi wondered if the Hokage had mentioned roots on purpose.

"I… will gather the council," Danzo said stiffly.

"Thank you," Sarutobi smiled graciously. "At least I know I can trust those closest to me."

As Danzo left them the third continued walking to the hospital, Kakashi close behind him.

"Don't worry Kakashi-kun," Sarutobi patted his head lightly, bringing him closer so he could speak without anyone else hearing. "Root should be gone within the next few weeks."

Kakashi stared at him, his eye wide. "…You are a terrifying man, sir."

Sarutobi laughed. "Of course I am! I made sure to be peaceful last time and look how that turned out? I need to change tactics."

_'What have I done?'_ Kakashi jumped as Sarutobi patted his head again. The Third Hokage simply continued to smile. Kakashi had come to him in order to save the village, and he would be damned if he let anyone get in his way.

Things were going to change.

**I've never actually written anything that is purely crack before, I tend to lean more towards emotional stories, but I figured this would be a good writing experience. Of course there is going to be a lot of emotional drama as well, but I'm going to try to make this story as entertaining as possible, so hopefully it turns out alright. I would love any criticism anyone has to offer in order to improve and I will answer all of my reviews in the next chapter.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Story

**Callian31: I hope it's good! Thanks for reviewing even though you're not sure, haha.**

**RazrPrototype: Now it's two chapters in, so I hope it doesn't disappoint. I wanted the first chapter to be mostly humorous, and the future is kind of depressing so I'm saving the revelations of what might have happened for later. I don't usually do that, so I'll try to make it acceptable. Thanks for the review!**

**ShiiroiKitsune21: I just realized I hadn't read anything on a crazy!Sandaime either, that's really interesting! I highly doubt I'm the first, but it's nice to think about, haha. Orochimaru will pop up in the next chapter too so I hope you like how he's going to be dealt with. As for the fox eye, this chapter should hopefully clear that up a bit. If not I'd be happy to explain. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Anbu Nightingale: …It is going to get so much worse for him. Your review is much appreciated!  
**

**MaleficentRace: Being original in anyway (especially on fanfiction) is always exciting. Is this really the first one with crazy!Sandaime? That'd be awesome! I'm happy you liked it, thank you for reviewing!**

**Tremblers: Thank you! I hope you like this chapter just as much, any grammar feedback would be much appreciated. Thanks so much for the review!**

**I just realized that Doc manager took out all of my paragraph indents in the last chapter so I'll have to go back and fix that. Bah.**

**On the outside this chapter is far more serious than the last one, but technically it is still just one big joke by the Third Hokage. Also, the hierarchy in the Anbu was never really explained, so I just kind of made one up. There are the regular forces and such, and then there are the captains. The highest-ranking Anbu is the General, who is basically like the Hokage's second in command. In this chapter you get to meet the General I have picked, who I hope you guys like because they will be showing up quite a bit after this! Hope you like it!**

**Chapter 2: The Story**

_"There's at least one flaw in this brilliant master plan," Kakashi sighed, flipping through the papers in his hands._

_ "Huh?" Naruto looked up from his desk. "What are you talking about? This is perfect!"_

_ The older ninja sent him a blank stare. "Well, even if all of this were to work, how exactly am I supposed to convince anyone I'm from the future?"_

_ Naruto grinned smugly. "You should stop underestimating me Kaka-sensei. I've known you since I was a kid, so I know just how terrible you are at getting people to like or trust you."_

_ Kakashi felt greatly insulted. He was a one of a kind, trustworthy, nice guy. How could anyone not like him?_

_ "So," Naruto continued, ignoring his affronted look, "I am well aware of how impossible it will be for you to convince anyone so I made it so that you don't even have to talk."_

_ "…How do you expect me to explain anything without talking? Sign language?"_

_ Naruto stood up abruptly and began to cackle, throwing his hands in the air. Kakashi edged away from the desk._

_ "Simple! Because I am the greatest Hokage to ever live, and I am a genius!"_

_ "I thought you hated geniuses."_

_ Naruto glared at him for cutting off his boasting. "I hate lazy geniuses, which I am not! I am pure awesomeness and I always have been."_

_ Kakashi tilted his head. "I don't remember anything like that."_

_ "Gah!" Naruto pulled at his hair, a familiar sight after his introduction to paper work, and pointed at his sensei menacingly. "No more interruptions! That's an order!"_

_ Kakashi bowed mockingly. "Yes, oh wise and powerful leader. Please regale me with your plan to allow me to speak without speaking."_

_ "Hmph," the blond nodded, not quite catching the sarcasm. "That's better. As I was saying, I am a genius. The seal to send you back focuses on your memories and chakra. When you get there you'll have the same amount of chakra as you do now, but as you pointed out earlier that could seriously harm your body, which is why I'm sending Kurama back as well. To help keep your chakra limited until you can control it yourself."_

_ Kakashi sighed, leaning back against the wall. This was around the thirtieth time Naruto had given this speech. They had both agreed that Kakashi would be too focused on everything else to regulate his own chakra every second when he was sent back, so Kurama offered to help. Naruto would seal Kurama's conscience and about a single tails worth of chakra into Kakashi (which was as much as his body was ever able to handle) and Kurama would be in charge of sealing away most of his reserves. When they both complained the damned fox said it was either that or Kakashi allowing his child self to become comatose as his overly large chakra reserves ripped his coils to shreds and killed him. Suffice to say, the three eventually came to an agreement._

_ "…and since Kurama has been with me since forever, he has all of my memories too, which is what you would be using when you activated it."_

_ Kakashi blinked, tuning back in to the real world. "Activating what?"_

_ "Agh!" Naruto screeched. "You haven't even been paying attention! Kaka-sensei," he whined._

_ "Maa, maa, calm down Naruto, I've got the gist of it. I just need to know what to do."_

_ "Oh," Naruto brightened, completely believing the lie. "Good. I thought you were just being an ass again."_

_ Kakashi gave him a bright smile._

_ "Okay," Naruto walked around the desk and grabbed one of the papers out of his hand. There was a complex seal drawn on it. "See this part right here? This is directly linked to the memories I share with Kurama. When you need to, all you need to do is activate it and touch the person you want to show them to. They'll see all of my memories, or at least all of the ones Kurama will allow them to see, and it should clear everything right up."_

_ Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the seal, trying to make sense of it. "That… doesn't really seem possible. Are you sure it will work?"_

_ Naruto scowled at him before suddenly grabbing his arm. "Shall we test it?"_

_ "Uh, I don't think that's-"_

_ Kakashi was cut off as his vision wavered and his head exploded in pain. Flashes of moments from his young student's life flashed before his eyes. It only lasted a few seconds, but it had felt like a lifetime, and when the connection stopped he nearly fell over. _

_ Naruto held him up with ease, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish look. "Sorry Kaka-sensei, I only meant to show you a little bit, but I guess I haven't worked out all the bugs yet."_

_ Kakashi simply bent over and tried not to throw up._

Sarutobi smiled as Kakashi swung his legs back and forth, his feet not even brushing the ground. It must have been quite strange for the man, seeing everything tower above him.

A masked Anbu appeared in the small hospital room, bowing to the Hokage.

"Ah, there you are Panther. I hope I didn't pull you away from anything important," Sarutobi smiled kindly.

The female ninja simply shook her head, moving to a relaxed but ready stance.

"That's good. I wanted to introduce you to Kakashi-kun. He is going to be on your squad from this day on," Sarutobi gestured towards the silver haired child.

Panther turned to look at him, her eyebrows hiking up behind her mask. She had heard of the Hatake kid, everyone had, but he looked a little different from what she had pictured. She was expecting a wreck of a kid with severe emotional problems, not one that seemed perfectly content to count the tiles on the ceiling with no regard for the two powerful ninja right next to him.

Everyone had said he was the textbook 'perfect shinobi'. Emotionless and loyal, always ready for an order. Odd for a five-year-old, but given the circumstances it made sense. She had actually felt pity for the boy. She had known Sakumo fairly well and honestly, if the mission had not ended up being so pivotal in the start of the war she doubted anyone would have actually cared about the outcome. In fact, they probably would have praised the man, seeing as how his teammates had both been part of major clans.

Instead, Sakumo was shunned and treated like an outcast, the treatment extending to his son as well. Panther had seen kids with messed lives turn into the worst kind of monsters, and she had seen the strength some people got from fighting through all the crap the world threw at them. She wondered what Sakumo's brat would be like. He had bandages wrapped around the left side of his face, which concerned her, but he didn't seem to worried. In fact, the brat almost looked bored.

"It is an honor to meet you Panther-san," Kakashi bowed respectfully.

Panther inclined her head in return. It was not her place to question the Hokage's orders. If he wanted this kid on her team, she'd take him. Hopefully he'd keep up.

The Hokage nodded happily at their interaction before turning sober. Panther straightened to attention at the shift in the air.

"Now, before Kakashi is put on your team there are some things you need to know. A few hours ago, he was attacked by someone impersonating an Anbu."

Panther almost snarled. Who would dare to infiltrate the shadows of Konoha?

The Sandaime nodded, as if reading her thoughts. "It is unheard of, yes, but that only adds to the problem. From how flawlessly the attack was executed I believe this spy infiltrated our ranks quite some time ago. I also believe they were not working alone. The amount of control and planning indicates at least a small group."

Panther had to stop herself from clenching her fists. The Anbu were very close knit. Once you were in, you were in for life. To know that not just one, but a supposed group, of enemies had managed to sneak their way in made her blood boil. Anbu held no tolerance for traitors. How could they have missed such a thing?

"Which brings us to our next problem," Sarutobi spoke after observing her reactions. "Whoever attacked Kakashi-kun did so with a specific purpose, and I believe they will try to do so again. Kakashi-kun, please take off your bandages."

Kakashi twitched, hesitating.

Sarutobi smiled. "You do not have to open your eye, simply let Panther see the outer damage."

Panther could make out his scowl through his mask, but the boy grudgingly moved to comply. She could barely suppress a small gasp as the bandages unraveled.

Covering Kakashi's entire left eye was complex seal, etched into his skin. The lines were red and slightly puffy, some still bleeding slightly. Panther had no doubt that it would scar.

"We are unsure of what the purpose of this seal is," Sarutobi sighed, his gaze dark. "Fortunately, the attacker had underestimated Kakashi-kun and he was able to escape before they could complete whatever it was they were trying to do. Kakashi-kun informed me that they never spoke, and the mask they wore was blank. We will need to capture the culprit in order to find out what they were planning."

Panther forced herself to look away from the gruesome markings on the child's face, focusing on Sarutobi once more.

The older man rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. "This is why I am assigning him to Anbu. I hate to put a child into that dark world, especially one so young, but this situation is far more complicated than a simple foreign spy. Panther, what I am about to tell you is an S-rank secret. The penalty for revealing this to anyone without my express permission is death."

Panther blinked, but crossed her right arm in front of her chest as a sign of loyalty.

"The amount of information someone must have had in order to go through with this attack is not something anyone could have gained over a year or two. Whoever the spies are, they must have been here for a very long time, and they must have been in a position where classified information is available to them. If Kakashi-kun had not managed to escape on his own, I fear we never would have known what we were up against. The villager's animosity towards the Hatake family is waning, but it is still present, and Kakashi-kun himself has been emotionally unstable since Sakumo's death. It would have been days before he was reported missing, and by then it would have been assumed that he had run away after being unable to handle the stress of everything around him."

Panther's gaze wondered to the window, her thoughts racing. It was true. A toddler would not have been able to handle that amount of trauma in such a short amount of time, and the obvious solution would have been that he had snapped and ran. It was not often that they lost children to the wilderness around their home, but the world was a dangerous place and it wasn't unheard of. If Hatake had disappeared and they had been unable to find him or his body in the forest, the immediate thought would have been that he had been caught by enemy ninjas. Their attention would have been turned outward, leaving the kid at the attacker's mercy in their very own village. But to understand all of this, to be able to plan for all of the different possibilities and outcomes, someone would have to have a very intimate understanding of how the village works, in regards to both the military and civilian life as well. With that kind of familiarity they would have practically been a native.

Her head whipped around to stare at her Hokage. Lifting her hand she used her index finger to draw a line between her left ear to the hole in her mask where her eye was.

Sarutobi nodded solemnly. "Yes Panther, this is not an outside attack. Whoever the leader of this little group is, they are from Konoha, and they most likely are in a position of power. The area Kakashi-kun had been attacked in was very lax on security, someone must have arranged it to be so."

'A jounin?' Panther thought to herself. 'No, Anbu have their own patrols and I would never have allowed such a lack of protection anywhere in the village. The leader cannot be in Anbu either, all patrols go through me and they know better than to change times without my say so. It may be a clan head. It would explain how they could gather followers they could trust, but it does not explain their interest in Hatake. They would also need someone proficient in sealing, judging on the kids eye, but the only people with experience in seals to my knowledge are Jiraiya-sama, that Namikaze kid who is hardly proficient, and-'

Sarutobi waited patiently waited for Panther to think things through. It was always best to give others just enough information to form the conclusions you wanted on their own. It would further cement the idea in their minds, making them believe it more than if someone were to tell them exactly what was going on. It is easy to poke holes in someone else's logic; it is much harder to poke holes in your own.

Panther hesitated, realizing that what she had just thought of could be taken as treason in its own right. She slowly brought her hands together, making the familiar hand sign to symbolize the section of Anbu she never considered as part of them.

"Root," Sarutobi nodded. "And their leader in turn. I will admit Danzo has been acting very odd lately, and I never was comfortable with the idea of his little organization. If it truly is him, we will need to tread lightly. I do not want to believe my old friend would do anything against the village, but all of the evidence is pointing to him thus far and I am not blind. He has changed much over the years."

Panther never liked Root. Anbu were supposed to be emotionless, yes, but they were also supposed to be able to think for themselves. Missions could change. The amount of misinformation that ran rampant was ridiculous at the best of times, making it a necessity for ninja to be able to make split second decisions that may very well change the entirety of the mission depending of what new information is revealed. Root could not do that. They followed the original mission word for word, and disregarded anything that got in their way. They sacrificed needlessly, and they did not fall under the command of her or her Hokage. They listened to Danzo, and no one else, and she liked Danzo even less than she like them. A ninja that did not offer the utmost loyalty to their Hokage and their village was not a ninja she could trust.

Panther twitched her fingers a few times and brought her left hand up to her shoulder.

"I will take care of Danzo and Root for now, Panther," Sarutobi shook his head. "Getting rid of them immediately would cause a panic, and not everyone will believe that he is a traitor regardless of what I say. I would like to make absolute sure we have the right person before making any rash decisions. We need irrefutable proof. What I need you to do is watch over Kakashi-kun. He will be their main target for now. He is a lose string, and we need him."

She looked over at Kakashi who had been watching their exchange with a blank look. She tilted her head slightly.

"I wouldn't worry," Sarutobi suddenly smiled, making both ninjas blink. "Kakashi-kun is extraordinarily skilled for his age. He will be able to look after himself, I simply needed to make sure Danzo could not reach him politically, just in case. Isn't that right Kakashi-kun?"

Kakashi sighed, shaking his head. "Whatever you say, Sandaime-sama."

Sarutobi grinned and stood up. "Perfect," he clapped his hands together; acting as thought the conversation had never even happened. "I have a few more things to do before the day is done. Panther, I'm giving you the day off of bodyguard duty today. Please get Kakashi-kun situated as soon as possible. You don't have to follow him around, he's responsible enough not to get himself into trouble, just make sure he knows where to go to get to headquarters alright?"

Panther nodded, inwardly rolling her eyes at his antics. Everyone always saw the amazing and powerful Professor, but she new better. The amount of trouble he got her into was almost astounding, but as his General she was forced to see his ideals through regardless of how... odd they could be. She almost pitied Danzo. A vengeful Sandaime was not something anyone wanted to see.

"Perfect!" He made his way towards the door. "I'll leave you to it then. Goodbye Kakashi-kun, I wish you luck with the others."

Panther frowned in confusion when the boy simply buried his head in his hands and groaned.

"They're exactly the same," he muttered under his breath. "That little brat, he'll pay for this."

Panther shrugged and waited for him to be ready. She wondered how the rest of the Anbu would react to their newest addition.

**For anyone that is confused, here is the basic summary of what just happened. When Naruto sent Kakashi back in time, he sent his memories and chakra. A fiver year old body cannot handle the large amount of chakra adult Kakashi has, and Kakashi would have pretty much died from the massive overload. In order to fix this problem Kurama agrees to be sealed in Kakashi, but because of the toxicity of his chakra Kakashi can only handle a single tail's worth so Naruto seals Kurama's conscience (thoughts, memories, emotions, etc.) and that tail's worth into Kakashi before sending him back. I'll go more into this in the next few chapters.  
**

**Panther is the Anbu General. Sarutobi convinces her that Danzo and all of Root (which has yet to be 'disbanded' in accordance to Canon for those who didn't know) are traitors and they are after Kakashi. He gives her little bits of (false) information that only the (fake) attacker could refute and allows her to draw her own conclusions. She is now on board for future plans and the Hokage has successfully trolled his General into babysitting an old man in a child's body. Good job Sarutobi, you manipulative bastard you. In the end Kakashi just lament's at his horrible character judgment and realizes that Naruto and Sarutobi are pretty much exactly the same.**

**Chapter song: …I'm almost ashamed to admit it is 'Poker Face' by Lady Gaga. I can literally picture Sandaime planning all of this bullcrap for his enemies while dancing to this song. It makes me giggle and cry at the ridiculousness of it, but that's what it makes me think of.**

**Thank you for reading!**


	3. Chapter 3: Anbu

**Poppy Grave Dreams: I… am so ashamed. I forgot to respond to your review in the last chapter. I am so sorry! Thank your for the kind review, I'm glad you like it so far.**

**long live mashmallows: It will only get worse for him; it's hardly even begun. He hasn't even met Gai yet. Mwuahahah. Thanks for the review! **

**ShiiroiKitsune21: Oh, so many people have invoked his wrath. He has quite the list going, haha. And yeah, Naruto probably will. He's kind of a little crazy too, but for good reason! Kakashi will go on missions with Anbu, but not for a little while. He is, after all, only five. Minato is in the village somewhere. At this point he has yet to meet Kakashi, since Kakashi hasn't graduated quite yet (he was going to in, like, a month before all this happened) and Orochimaru is… well… he's not psychotic so much as… normal? Kind of? He hasn't started experimenting on babies yet; lets use that as a measuring stick. Thank you for reviewing again!**

**Yay, next chapter. Time for Anbu introductions, huzzah!**

**Hope you enjoy! **

**Chapter 3: Anbu**

Kakashi kept quiet as Panther led him to Anbu headquarters. She hadn't seemed too surprised that he could jump from the rooftops with her, but he supposed that made sense. Technically he was supposed to graduate from the academy in a few months, and any fresh genin knew at least that much.

They landed in front of a seemingly ordinary wall near the Hokage Mountain. There was always a genjutsu placed around the headquarters, making it difficult to find. Panther flipped rapidly through the counter hand signs and ushered Kakashi into the building.

_'I wonder if I'll get my old mask,'_ Kakashi wondered, looking around the familiar setting. _'Maybe. I wouldn't be surprised if the Hokage gave me Naruto's mask, just for kicks.'_

Panther tapped on his shoulder to get his attention. They were standing in front of the door leading to the main lobby area, making Kakashi sigh internally.

_'I forgot we had to go through here to get to the upper floors. Damn, I hope they're all out on missions.'_

A small piece of paper was put in front of him. Kakashi tilted his head at the familiar handwriting. He had never met Panther in his previous life, she had died a few years before he originally joined, so why was it that her handwriting seemed so familiar?

_This is the main lobby. Most Anbu who are not on missions can be found here. Anyone trying to sneak in would have to go through here first, making infiltration near impossible._

"I see," Kakashi nodded, trying to seem like he was paying attention. _'I never had a reason to look at anything signed by the past General before, so why? Maybe I knew her outside of Anbu.'_

Before he could think on it further Panther pushed the door open. Several heads turned towards them, making Kakashi groan.

"Panther!" an Otter masked Anbu waved. "Welcome back!"

Another Anbu, wearing a badger mask, looked next to her. "What's with the kid?"

The other Anbu in the room turned their attention to Kakashi, taking in the silver hair and bandages around his face.

"Isn't that Hatake's kid?" one of the asked.

"Why's he here? And what happened to his eye?"

Panther shook her head despairingly. They were supposed to be a highly respected, skilled, _silent_, division of Konoha, but whenever they were off duty it was like dealing with little kids.

She moved her hands to form various signs before tapping where her heart was.

"What?!" A Raccoon masked Anbu shouted. "What do you mean he's joining? He's three!"

"I'm five," Kakashi corrected blankly.

"Like that's any better," Badger snorted.

The owl masked Anbu from before was sitting in the corner, having gotten off of guard duty an hour earlier. "Does this have to do with what the Hokage wanted to see you about?"

"The Hokage wanted to see you?" a falcon masked Anbu piped in. "That's rare. Did he want your help with paperwork again?"

Kakashi blinked slowly, processing the words. No one helped the Hokage with paperwork except for a few handpicked secretaries. Even then, they only helped with the most basic of things such as D-ranks and other civilian requests. No one but the council was allowed to sign anything higher than that, so helping the Hokage with anything involving paperwork was impossible unless…

Unless you had the exact same handwriting as him and no one could tell the difference.

_'I can't believe this,'_ Kakashi rubbed his only visible eye. _'Did he force her to memorize his handwriting? Or did he copy hers?' _He shook his head. _'This is ridiculous. I know he hates paperwork, everyone does, but would he really go that far?'_

It was a stupid question, especially after what he had just learned about his old (new. Old. New?) leader. Of course he would.

"Hey kid, you okay?" A deep voice questioned, sounding suspiciously close.

Kakashi looked up at the Anbu who was knelt directly in front of him. He blinked in shock before his eye crinkled to show a slight smile.

"I'm fine," he said, taking in the nostalgic mask. "Are you a hamster?"

The man groaned as the others laughed. It was a common mistake, unfortunately. His mask was supposed to be intimidating, but whoever made it had obviously messed up.

"No kid, it's supposed to be a bear."

"You sure?" Kakashi squinted. He had missed this. Teasing his old General had always been an entertaining past time. Even when he retired and became a jounin he occasionally dropped by for a visit. The old Bear had been one of the few people he truly respected as a kid, and that respect only grew with age.

"Yes I'm sure," he growled, his voice sounding like the animal his mask was supposed to represent. "Respect your elders kid. Seriously Panther, is he really joining?"

Panther nodded and pointed to herself then to him.

Bear nearly choked. "_Our_ team? You have got to be joking."

"No fair!" Otter whined. "I've been trying for years to get on your team, why does this brat get to join upfront?"

"He must be better than you," a woman muttered.

"Shut it Chameleon! There is no way a one eyed toddler is better than me!"

Kakashi decided to ignore the arguments that had broken out, instead choosing to reminisce. He didn't recognize some of them, though it made sense. He had joined much later and Anbu wasn't a long-term job. You either died or you retired within a set amount of years. Then again, there were a few who were practically born to be in Anbu that stayed in it for a record-breaking span of time.

Take Bear as a prime example. He started when he was nineteen and went until he was fifty-four. Kakashi had always wondered if he would have died of old age if it weren't for Madara.

He recognized Chameleon as well, though he hadn't known her too well. She had died his first year as Anbu on a mission gone wrong. The only reason he remembered her was because she had led one of his missions once and they had all almost died. Fun times.

He recognized Owl and Hawk immediately. They were the Sandaime's most trusted guards up until the invasion by the Sound. After the old Hokage's death they had left Anbu and become Academy teachers. They had believed that the only way they could make up for failing their job was to help the future generations be stronger than the last. They were surprisingly apt teachers.

Other than that he didn't really know anyone else. They either died/retired before he joined or they didn't meet often enough to make an impression on his memory.

'_Well,'_ Kakashi mentally shrugged, _'not all of them are here, plus I hadn't really cared about teammates back then. I might have met the others and just not bothered to pay attention to them. Oh well, I'll remember this time.'_

Panther whistled through her teeth, making the chatter stop. They all straightened and turned to look at her. She pointed at Bear, then Kakashi, before gesturing for them to follow her. The other Anbu settled down sheepishly as she glared at them from behind her mask.

Bear followed them out the door and up the stairs nearby, sending a mocking salute to his fellow ninja.

"So, Hatake Kakashi, why are you joining the Anbu?" Bear questioned as they made their way to the fourth floor.

"It was the Hokage's decision," Kakashi replied blankly.

Bear looked at Panther, who nodded in confirmation. "Alright," he nodded, not questioning the decision. "Well, you're on our team so there's a few things you should know. Firstly, Panther is the General of Anbu. If she tells you to do something then you drop whatever the hell you're doing and follow it letter for letter. The only one who has higher authority than her is the Hokage and they are usually on the same page so it doesn't really matter. Do you know sign language?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Good. Panther is mute and it takes time for her to write out what she needs to say. Anbu has its own version, so you'll have to learn that as well. This team isn't like most either. Most teams are randomly picked depending on the mission. You usually don't have set team members, but the General's team isn't like that. You will have the same teammates until you die, retire, or are demoted. You can go on different missions with other teams, but you will always be a part of the General's team."

Kakashi committed that to memory. He had never been a part of the General's team before, and he never bothered to learn the semantics.

"At least two members of this team must be in the village at any time. If the for some reason both the Hokage and the General are out of commission then those members are put in charge until a more permanent solution can be found."

"Really?" Kakashi couldn't help but ask. He had never known that, and with how hectic everything had been at the end he doubted Naruto had known either. Though it would explain why the village didn't descend into mass chaos during the war. He had wanted to believe it was because they were all level minded adults, but who was he kidding? They probably would have started blowing things up left and right.

Bear nodded. "Yeah. Not many people know about that, since having both of them down at the same time has never happened before. You don't really have to worry about that, since you're a kid and I doubt anyone would really listen to you."

Kakashi suddenly frowned, his suspicions raised. "Why are you telling me all of this? Aren't you worried I'll tell someone?"

Bear snorted. "It's not like some big secret, kid. Most of this is even written in Konoha's laws; it's just that no one really bothers to read that deeply into them unless they have to. The only 'secret' information is that Panther is mute. You would have figured that out on your own, and most people think all of Anbu is mute anyway so it doesn't really matter."

Kakashi fell silent again, his head aching. How had he not known any of this before? Admittedly, he never had a reason to need this information, but when going back in time it would be best to have all the knowledge one could get. Kakashi and the blond idiot had gone over thousands of documents and old mission statements to prepare for this so how had they missed this?

'_We looked through every little thing except for our own laws. Great start Kakashi. Great start."_

"We'll go over everything else once the others return," Bear finished as they walked down the hall. "For now," they stopped outside a door, "this will be your new room. You don't have any roommates yet, but that'll change soon enough. You'll get your armor tomorrow. Whenever you don't have a mission and as long as you get the okay from Panther you can leave headquarters whenever you want. Just try not to lead anyone here."

Kakashi gave him a blank stare. "I'll try my best."

"Great," Bear smiled behind his mask before patting Panther on the shoulder. "That should take care of the explaining then."

Panther nodded and pointed at the clock on the wall. She made the signs for '6am' before turning on her heel to walk away.

"She says bye, enjoy your stay, and be ready by 6 tomorrow morning," Bear saluted her as she left. "Her office is at the end of the hall if you need her."

"Okay," Kakashi nodded, taking in the familiar grey walls and small beds. Anbu rooms were by no means comfortable (most chose to go to their own homes in the villages, or just not sleep at all), but it was like a second home him. These rooms, at least, had never changed.

"You sure you're okay kid?" Bear questioned, reaching out to brush the hair away from his bandages. "That looks like it must be bad. Depending on what it is, I've got some stuff that might help with the pain."

Kakashi hesitated. He really wanted to be alone right now, to gather his thoughts, but it had been a long time since he had seen his General. The man seemed lighter than he had remembered. Happier. And Kakashi could trust him. Bear was a good ninja and a greater man. Showing his team the seal would at least take care of it in case it was ever revealed during a mission.

Would he even get to go on missions?

Whatever, it was just a precaution.

"It's just a few cuts," Kakashi muttered.

"Ah," Bear nodded, "well lucky for you I've got this great medical cream that works wonders on cuts. Go on and acquaint yourself with your new room, I'll go grab some."

"Mh." Kakashi hummed, watching the man walk away. It wasn't like he could go anywhere else anyway. The second floor was always heavily guarded, the main lounge was full of Anbu, and he had no doubt Panther could sense him from her office.

Closing the door behind him, he moved to sit on the bed.

"Well," he let out a long, drawn out breath. "I made it. Let's just go from there."

**I wasn't really going to put him in here too much at first, but since you guys seemed to really like him I'll throw this in here. :) **

**Extra:**

Sarutobi glared at the stacks of papers on his desk. He didn't have time for any of that! When had his village become so dependent on pieces of paper? And who had thought it was a good idea to put the strongest ninja in the village behind a desk instead of on the front lines? Think of all the casualties that could have been avoided! All of the missions that could have been completed in record time! All of the ink stains, hand cramps, and back aches that could have been avoided!

Well no more. Sarutobi had wanted to create a village where friends were treasured and treated without constant suspicion. Where teammates were looked upon as more than just an extra pair of tools. Where children could laugh freely and know that no matter what happened, they were important. Some one cared.

Then Kakashi came and showed him that in the end, his plan had worked fairly well. Then some stuck up, supposedly immortal little brat (who cares if she was a legend!) and a thrice-damned Uchia (always with the Uchia!) decided to muck it all up! He wasn't even going to mention his idiotic student.

This… was unacceptable. He refused to allow this to happen, which meant he did not have the time nor the patience to deal with any more paperwork!

Unfortunately, the paper work still needed to be done. The careful structure of stability he had slaved to keep practically demanded it.

Fortunately, he knew someone who usually never left the village and who was loyal to a fault that conveniently had the exact same handwriting as him. (In the end, even they weren't quite sure whose handwriting it had been originally. The Hokage simply said they were born with this gift and Panther just shrugged it off and tried not to judge her old friend to hard. He was her Hokage. She could not lightning punch her Hokage in the face)

"Owl!" he called, waiting for the familiar mask to appear before him. "Fetch Panther for me, I have some things to discuss with her after the meeting."

Owl saluted and disappeared in flash (gust? Puff? Pile?) of leaves.

_'I am sorry my old friend,'_ Sarutobi stared out his window sadly at the bustling village below. _'But this must be done. This world needs me.'_

Deep within Anbu headquarters Panther shivered. Knowing that she was about to be called on for something absolutely ridiculous (again) she pushed her chair back and waited. It was pointless to run (she had tried before).

**Poor Panther. At least Kakashi had a lifetime of some kind of normalcy. She has had to deal with crazy Hiruzen since she met him. **

**I hope you guys liked this, and if you have any ideas on different Anbu that should show up go ahead and throw them at me. They don't have to be Canon; they can even be OCs as long as you give me their background and what you want for them too. Can't make any promises, depending on plot and all that, but I could use some more members for them.**

**Chapter painting: "The Scream" created by Edvard Munch. This could literally represent any of the characters mentioned in this chapter. Kakashi when he realizes just how terribly this is all starting out for him. Panther when she realizes what the Hokage has in store for her. The Anbu when they realize Kakashi is joining them and will technically be a higher ranking ninja than them. The Hokage when he looks at his paperwork. It matches everyone rather well I think.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	4. Chapter 4: Hide and Seek

**ShiiroiKitsune21: Haha, yeah, it is so easy to miss the most obvious things. Sandaime has a love for the dramatics. He really does care about the village, he just has an interesting way of viewing things. Panther is so done with his bull crap. She has known him for a long time. It took me awhile to create the timeline before all the big stuff happened but I think I've got it down all right now. Thank you for the OC's! I put them into this chapter so I hope I did them justice! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest: Thank you! Right now Kakashi's diminutive size and small chakra coils are going to be working against him. He has to build everything back up so he doesn't actually have to hide too much because he can't **_**do**_** near as much as he could. Hope I explained that well. Thank you for reviewing!**

**Loyal fan: Root has always pissed me off. 'The darker side of the Leaf' is the Anbu, that's what they are there for. Danzo only cares about Danzo in the end so I have quite the plan for him. Thank you so much for the review!**

**Observer-chan: No one can escape the feared paperwork. It takes a special kind of person to face it head on, that is what makes a true leader ;). Thanks for the review!**

**nurr: Thanks! He isn't really in this chapter (though he is mentioned) but I hope you like it anyway! Thanks for the kind review!**

**WingedBirdy: You gave me a lot of wonderful feedback and it means a lot to me so thank you! I also want to say thanks for the OC, who is in this chapter actually. I hope I got her down all right. Thanks you for the wonderful review!**

**Elise: D'aww, thanks. Your review made me smile, so thank you.**

**For anyone who has either given me, or is planning to give me, and OC for this story I need to know if you want anything in particular for them. If not, I will come up with a background and plan for them on my own, but I would like to check to see if you guys had anything in mind first. I won't accept everything, I need to focus on how to work them around the plot not how to change the plot, but I am willing to compromise and work with an open mind. Other than that, any OC goes. They can be a civilian, ninja, enemy ninja, Anbu, elderly, etc. **

**Here is the next chapter! Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 4: Hide and Seek**

**-00-**

"So," Bear started casually, leaning against her desk. "How'd the evaluation go?"

Panther barely even glanced up, the pen in her hand moving so quickly it looked like a blur. Without pausing she used her other hand to toss a file at him.

Bear blinked at the rather hefty file. He had been expecting two pages, three at most. "What did you test him on?" he wondered, flipping it open.

Panther didn't bother answering.

The room was silent for a few moments before a low whistle escaped Bear's lips. "There is no way he can do all of this. You're sure he's not a spy?"

She glared at him before gesturing quickly with her hands.

"Well, I get that the Hokage wants him protected and all but from the looks of things he'll probably be just fine on his own. I know some Genin who can't even do any of this."

With a put upon sigh she set the pen down for more maneuverability. She gestured at the walls before forming a few quick hand signs.

He frowned in return. "So we're basically just keeping him in the walls unless the Hokage says so? Why put him in our team then? He's skilled for a kid, but he's a kid nonetheless. He wouldn't even be able to take down a Chuunin."

Panther shrugged but Bear new her better than that.

"So some high class secrets then," he mused, ignoring her sharp glare. "Must be a pretty big deal. Should we make up a guard roster?"

Panther shook her head. As long as the kid stayed in the base there was no need.

Sudden silence from her second in command made her frown suspiciously.

"Uh, so about the 'in the base' thing," Bear scratched his neck. "He's not in his room and I can't really sense him in the building either."

Panther cast out her senses, confirming that the boy that was supposed to be protected from _everyone_ until loyalties were proven otherwise was nowhere near where he should be.

_"Kami damn it Sarutobi!"_ she raged. _"Your f'ing paperwork is getting in the way of everything! Take care of your own shit you damnable old man!"_

Bear edged out the room carefully. He hoped those files were the real deal. That kid was going to need all the skill he could muster to get out of Panther's retribution alive.

-00-

Kakashi stared at the Memorial Stone, slightly irritated to notice that he actually had to look up to see the names near the top. He vaguely wondered if it was normal for a five year old to be this small.

All his life the Memorial Stone had seemed full. Of names, sadness, anger, _guilt._ The more he grew, the fuller it was, and not once had it ever seemed lacking in the pure suffering it could give to those that visited. Yet the Memorial Stone that stood before him was different. There were so many blank spaces, and all of the names he had expected to see (he had, after all, memorized every single one of them) were no longer there. With each missing name he felt his heart grow lighter as he realized those names didn't have to come back. Those spots could stay blank for a long time to come.

He wasn't deluding himself into believing he could save all of them. He honestly doubted he could even save one, but to actually be given the _possibility _after years of helplessness was something he had never even dreamed of. Shattered families could stay together, lost lovers could greet the new day once more, and friends who had been taken _to kami damn_ _soon_ could laugh and cry together as it always should have stayed.

Kakashi brushed his fingers over the stone, noting how its smoothness had never changed over the years regardless of the weather. Seal work had never been a path he followed through with, but it never ceased to leave him in awe.

A bird chirped, breaking his concentration and making him sigh. He would have to get back to headquarters soon and it took far longer to get to places now that his legs were so small. He doubted he would be leaving any time soon, either. He tried to hold back as much as he could when Panther tested his skill level, and he did have more issues than he thought he would due to his small limbs and miniscule height, but he had no doubt she was suspicious now. This had been his only chance to sneak out unattended, before they all realized he was far more than a five-year-old kid with family issues.

Reaching into his pocket, Kakashi pulled out a small, oval stone. It was smooth and unmarred except for a few lines of his own making on the front of it. Rubbing his thumb over the markings fondly, he set it down next to the Memorial Stone and bowed his head.

There had always been one name that deserved to be on that stone but never got its rightful place. With this, at least it got a place Kakashi could always see.

-00—

"Line up!" Bear ordered the moment he entered the lounge. All of the available Anbu jumped up and moved to stand in front of him. "You have all heard about the kid that recently joined. Panther needs to see him immediately and she's in a bad mood."

The Anbu tensed slightly.

"That's right, so we need to find him fast. He should be out in the town somewhere. If you cannot find him report back to me immediately. For those of you who have met him do not merely rely on appearance. He is a competent ninja regardless of age. If he doesn't want to be found he knows how to hide himself. Bring him back to headquarters, preferably without violence. He recently injured his left eye and he hasn't had enough time to adjust so chose your targets accordingly. Whoever finds him gets some of the cookies I made yesterday. Dismissed!"

They shot out of the room like lightning. Bear's cookies were legendary.

-00—

"So, where should we start looking?" Bee asked, jumping in place with anticipation. She had been in rehab for the last two weeks due to an annoying spinal injury and she was glad to finally be out and about the village again.

Tortoise yawned, her mask loosely attached to her face. "His house? The academy?"

Bee waved her hand flippantly. "No, no, no. Those are way to obvious. Think bigger!"

"He's five," Tortoise deadpanned. "How much bigger are you talking?"

"Open your mind!" Bee declared, spreading her arms out wide as they got to the roof of headquarters. "Think of all the little nooks and crannies he could have squeezed into! I mean, as a kid he's gotta be pretty small right? This whole village is like a giant playground, ripe for the taking!"

"Uh-huh."

Bee huffed. "Fine, we'll start at the _obvious_ stuff," she said the word with clear disdain. Leaping off the top of the building she pointed towards the sky as she fell. "To the Hokage Monument!"

Tortoise simply allowed gravity to pull her from the building as she leaned over the edge. "A birds eye view wouldn't be so bad," she agreed.

They formed the hand signs for shunshin at the same time, both disappearing in a cloud of leaves.

Kakashi looked up from where he was standing at the entrance to headquarters, shaking his head at the two Anbu who had just skydived off the top. He figured they had just been sent out on a mission so he simply continued through the doors and to his room.

-00—

"This isn't good," Bear bemoaned. He had searched the entire village and he had yet to find the boy. There was no way a toddler was skilled enough to avoid a highly trained Anbu for this long (unless he was a spy, and even then there was an entire _group _of trackers on his tail) so the only other explanation he could think of was that Hatake Kakashi was no longer in the village. That, or some other high level ninja was hiding him. But who would be stupid enough to hide someone from the hidden forces of the leaf?

…

"Damn it, Dai," he sighed, leaping out of the tree he had been in. He shot across the village towards the all to familiar training grounds.

A green blur was attacking one of the many stumps littering training ground 4. Bear appeared directly behind the figure with his arms crossed disapprovingly.

Maito Dai whirled around, stopping his fist just a hair's breadth away from the familiar mask.

"Bear!" he greeted enthusiastically, his bushy mustache and eyebrows moving with his smile. "How are you this fine day?"

"I'd be doing better if you weren't interfering with my work," Bear deadpanned.

Dai froze, a look of panicked confusion on his face. "I do not understand old friend. What wrong have I done to you?"

"You wouldn't happen to know where Hatake Kakashi is would you?"

"Ah," Dai turned unnaturally solemn. "Sakumo's son. I haven't seen the young man since the funeral I'm afraid. Is he alright?"

Bear looked him up and down but couldn't find any indicator that he was lying "…He's adjusting rather well for a child. The Hokage wants to see him and I figured you might have an idea where he is."

Dai brought a hand up to tug at the ends of his beard. "Hmmmm, I'm not entirely sure. Gai!"

Bear turned slightly to see a much smaller green menace come barreling towards them. A small five year old boy stopped just a few inches from them breathing hard. He wore the same green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers as Dai, though his hair was a bit longer.

"Yes papa?"

Dai laughed brightly before punching Gai, sending the kid into the dirt. "You numbskull! I thought I told you to take a break from training for another fifteen minutes! There is no point in forcing your body past its limit when you are so young!"

"I-I'm sorry Papa, I only want to get stronger! Like you!" Gai sniffled, tears streaming down his face.

Dai's face crumpled as he began to sob. "Don't apologize son, you are already doing your best! Your youth is shining through!"

Bear took a subtle step back as the two embraced. "…Dai."

"Ah yes!" Dai straightened immediately as though the whole situation had never happened. "Gai, have you seen young Kakashi at all today?"

Gai crossed his arms in thought. "Um, I think he was at the Memorial Stone earlier. Why? Is he in trouble?"

"Numbskull!" Dai roared.

Bear rushed away before he had to watch their little act once more. He respected Dai, and his son, for their strength of character but even he could only handle the two in small amounts.

He had the information he needed.

-00-

"What if he left the village?" Bee wondered, scanning the village from her perch on the stone face of the Fourth Hokage.

"Doubtful," Tortoise yawned, stretching out on the ground. "The kid may be good at hiding but he'd never get out if the guards were actively looking for him. Besides, what reason would he have to leave? If he's as smart as everyone says he is he'd never step foot outside the walls."

Bee sighed, scratching the back of her head. "Okay, fine. Then were is he? You're earth natured right? Doesn't that make it easier to sense things?"

Tortoise tilted her head to look at her partner. "Who the hell told you that? Sensing is all about chakra, not earth."

"But the earth is filled with chakra isn't it?"

Tortoise shook her head, turning her gaze back to the sky. "You're thinking of natural chakra. Being able to use that to sense anybody is a pretty high level skill, you'd have to be a sage or something to get anywhere with it. Earth natured chakra and natural chakra are similar in a way, but so is every other element compared to natural chakra. It just doesn't work that way."

"Psh," Bee huffed. "Then how can we find the kid?"

Tortoise thought about it for a long moment before stretching her arms above her head and turning on her side. "…Dunno."

"Hey!" Bee nudged her. "Don't fall asleep!"

She groaned. "Come on, I just got back from a mission. I don't want to be running around the village on some wild goose chase when someone probably already found him. He's five, it's not like it would be difficult."

Bee huffed and crossed her arms petulantly. "Hmph. Way to spoil all of the fun." She paused, tilting her head. "…Hey, if someone did find him and brought him back to the base then they might not have told Panther or Bear yet right?"

"I guess," Tortoise shrugged noncommittally. "Why?"

Bee jumped up excitedly. "Come on, you're supposed to be the strategist!"

"We are supposed to steal from our enemies, not our allies."

"Psh, please," Bee waved her hand dismissively. "When it comes to Bear's cookies and Panther's rage it's everyone for themselves. And we're dealing with both here! We could totally snatch the kid and get the best of both worlds! Think about it!"

Tortoise stared at her before turning on her side once more. "Meh. Not interested."

Bee tapped her mask in thought. "If we got on her good side Panther might let you upgrade the beds like you've been wishing to~"

There was a slight moment of stilted silence before Tortoise sat up with a sigh.

"Yay! Let's go steal us a kid!"

"Never say that again."

-00-

Kakashi was stretching in his room when the door was practically kicked open. Two Anbu ninjas stared down at him. He stared back.

"…Holy shit, he's really here," the one on the left nearly shouted.

The other one slapped her. "Language. You don't want him telling Panther where he learned those words do you?"

"Oh," the one with the bug like mask moved her hands as though to cover her mask. "That'd be bad. You heard nothing!"

Kakashi gave them a deadpan look before going back to his stretches. He squawked when they lifted him up by his elbows.

"Hey! What are you doing?"

"Completing the mission," they chimed, one voice bubbling with joy and the other monotone and bored.

Before he could make any move to protest they had rushed down the hallway and to Panther's room. Skidding to a halt in front of it they composed themselves, looking each other over before nodding.

The turtle masked Anbu knocked on the door.

There was a light tapping noise in return.

Panther looked up when they entered, eyes zeroing in on Kakashi being carried between them.

_"__Where was he?"_

"In his room," they both saluted, dropping him and pushing him forward. "He appeared to be stretching."

Panther snatched a clean sheet of paper from her desk (Kakashi couldn't help but stare at the outrageously large stacks of paper in concern. At his current size those could crush him.) and bent down in front of him. She scribbled something on it and handed it to him.

You are not allowed to leave the compound without Bear's or mine express permission. Where were you?

"Oh," Kakashi tugged at the edge of his mask to show surprise. He made sure to give her a wide, uncertain stare. "I-I was just… visiting the Memorial Stone. I came back as soon as I was done, but I didn't know I wasn't supposed to leave."

Panther sighed and looked up at her two subordinates. _"Take him back to the room and stay with him. I will come by later. Good work today."_

It wasn't visible with their masks on but she could tell the two were beaming. It wasn't often that the Captain handed out compliments.

"Come along Kashi-chan," Bee scooped Kakashi up into her arms and whisked him down the hall after sketching a quick bow.

"Don't worry Taicho, we'll keep an eye on him," Tortoise gave her a slightly lazy bow and ambled out of the room.

Panther returned to her desk with an impending headache. At least they had found the brat, and it didn't seem like he was lying. Overplaying it, definitely, but not lying. All she had to do now was finish her paperwork (and Sarutobi's, the bastard) and go over the new missions for the next day and she could leave her office for more than three hours.

"HOLLY CRAP!" a high-pitched squeal made her jump out of her seat, a pair of kunai in hand. "You are so cute! I didn't even notice before!"

"L-let go of me!" a kid's voice cried.

Panther placed her head in her hands.

She wasn't going to die on the field of battle, defending her home and everyone in it. She was going to die in this tiny little room surrounded by idiots.

Sometimes she hated how much she loved her village.

**Hope you guys liked this one! Thanks for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Problem

**There's really nothing I can say to make up for not posting for an entire year. On any of my stories, even. It was a big year for me and I honestly rarely found the time to rest for more than an hour each day. Writing has always been my stress relief but I was too tired to even do that, so I am sincerely sorry to the readers who still read my story (for which I am extremely grateful and touched as well) and I'm sorry to my stories, which have always been important to me. I hope to have adjusted enough to the chaos to start writing more frequently again. Thank you all! I hope you enjoy this next chapter!**

**WingedBirdy: Thank you! When on duty Panther is completely calm and to the point, taking everything that's thrown at her with grace. When off duty she lectures Sarutobi and those around her for being such idiots and explaining to them what exactly they should have done and for the love of Kami stop giving her more work! There may also be... a lot of violence. I also am not entirely sure who Gai's mother is. I couldn't find much about her at all. I really appreciate the OC you gave me! With all this time to plan the story I have had a lot of time to integrate her into the story, I'm glad you like the style I write her in so far! Thanks for the extra background info!**

**Hatakefire: I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, but I'm happy to hear you like it! Thanks!**

**Callian31: Always happy to garner a laugh!**

**Guest: That was not a stupid idea at all! In fact, for being one of the few people to give me an OC I made him a pretty stable character. He's in this chapter too, though not until the very end. He'll show up more in the next chapter, so if you have any extra background info or anything let me know before I express full on creative liberty. Thank you!**

**ThePlotBunnies: I love your name, just so you know. Bear's cooking is truly legendary. He uses it as a very apt incentive, haha. Even for Panther. Thank you for the review!**

**Saashi Samy: Wow, you reviewed pretty much every chapter! Thank you! I'm so happy you like it!**

**AngelicRiver: I'm afraid it doesn't get any easier for Panther. It's tough, being the only sane one. Her and Kakashi should bond over that;)**

**IronScript: So it shall be! (just extremely late) Thank you for reviewing! **

**Fallen's Child: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you like it, and I promise to not give up on this story until the end (even though it might take far longer than necessary to complete it).**

**Wynter Sprite: I love Sarutobi, that crazy old man, and Naruto will always be awesome! It is irrefutable! Kakashi will learn a lot from watching Panther attempt to stay sane in all the chaos. Such as the fact that it is best to avoid the crazy as best as you can (it doesn't work). Gai… would probably be the most normal person in Kakashi's life honestly. His determination knows no bounds! Thank you for the amazing review!**

**Pioupioute: Another chapter, coming right up! Thank you for taking the time to review!**

**Rizuki Dhan: Thank you! I'm glad you like it! I appreciate the review!**

**Seriously, the nice reviews you guys have given me are amazing. They motivate me to do more, so thank you!**

**I cut this chapter in half because it will take me another day to finish the rest and I figured you guys had waited long enough! Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 5: The Problem**

**-00-**

Kakashi scowled at himself in the mirror. He had gone to get his armor from the weaponry, and found out that most of the standard uniforms didn't come in any kid friendly sizes. Was he really supposed to be this… tiny? He didn't ever remember being so short.

"This is the smallest set we have." Tiger, the Anbu in charge of the armory, shrugged. She was a tall woman, with long, dark gold hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. Kakashi couldn't see her eyes past the mask, but he could certainly feel the pointed gaze of them on his back. Her voice was deep and she spoke slowly, but there was a consistent hint of amusement that irritated him. "I can get a custom set made but it'll take some time. That'll have to do."

"It's better than nothing," he conceded, rolling his shoulders. The armor shifted awkwardly from where it hung off his tiny frame. Every movement he made caused the metal chest plate to bounce against his chest and back while the armguards shifted slightly with each step he took. He had tightened them as far as they would go, and they would stay on his shoulders at least, but just barely.

"Give me a week," Tiger drawled, her long fingers tugging at a loose strap. "It should be done by then."

"Thanks," he nodded his head gratefully. This armor was going to get very annoying very quickly. At least he wouldn't be going on missions for a while. Most of his plans involved being in the village anyway, so for now there was no rush to leave.

Kakashi moved to step away from them mirror when a sharp, burning pain erupted in his left eye. He stumbled, breath catching as his hand rose to press roughly against the bandages. His eye pulsed angrily and he could feel it twitching, as if trying to open.

"**We need to talk,"** the voice reverberated through his skull, making the pain worse.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue. _'I thought you weren't going to wake up for a month at least.'_

"**I was planning on it, but you had fuck everything up didn't you? Just find some place where you can meditate without drawing attention."**

The pain subsided slightly and Kakashi cracked his uncovered eye open (when had he closed it?). He blinked at Tiger, whose mask was just a few inches from his face. As he grew more and more aware he realized her hands were on his shoulders, steadying him as she kneeled down next to him.

…It didn't sit well with him that someone had gotten close enough to touch him without him realizing it.

"You okay kid?" she asked him, scanning him over. From this close Kakashi could just barely make out narrow green eyes from behind her mask.

"Mah," he scratched the back of his head, casually shaking her hands off. "Just a little tired."

She hummed in the back of her throat, but allowed him his space. "Well, we're done here for the day. Come back in a week."

Kakashi nodded his head and turned to leave. As he strolled out the door, hands in his pockets, he wondered what exactly Tiger was going to tell Panther about what had just happened.

'_Ah well,'_ he thought. _'I can always just tell her it was the seal hurting.'_

"**It wouldn't hurt at all if you hadn't moved around so much."**

Kakashi gripped the side of his head tightly, shoulder's tensing. "Can you stop doing that?" he hissed under his breath.

"**Hmph."**

He waited a few moments for the pain to fade again. Once he was sure his brain wasn't about to explode he began walking. It wasn't hard to find a place to meditate. All he had to do was go to his room, and no one would bother him unless they really needed to. Panther had told him his training wouldn't start until the rest of his new team returned to base so he still had time before things got busy.

"Alright," he sighed, going over to his cot and sitting on top of it with crossed legs. He closed his eyes for a few moments and when he opened them again he was his adult self, standing in a mock version of Training Ground 7. He had worked long and hard to gain the mental strength to create this place. The rest of his mental space was a disaster that he usually avoided, but this place was safe. This place was home.

"**Over here,"** the deep voice called once again. Kakashi turned his attention towards the far tree line. There was a lump of red stretched out across the grass.

"Huh," he blinked languidly as he approached. "You got small."

The Kyuubi, or 'Kurama' as Naruto insisted he be called, snorted at him.

"**That would be your fault idiot. With only a tail's worth of chakra I can't get much bigger."**

Kakashi scratched at his mask, feeling the comforting familiarity of his mask pulled low over his eye. He imagined the Kyuubi at full size. "…Can't say I'm disappointed. You'd probably take up the entire field."

Kurama rolled his eyes, making the lines of exhaustion etched around the eyes stand out even more.

He was much, much smaller than when Kakashi had last seen him. Instead of towering over him, Kurama looked as though he would barely reach Kakashi's shoulder. The fox was curled up in the grass limply, his eyes drooping even as he spoke.

"**You fucked up."**

"I've been here for less than a week," Kakashi shot back immediately, scanning over the exhausted creature. "Are you sure you should be awake right now?"

"**Shut it,"** Kurama growled weakly at him. **"I wouldn't be awake right now if you weren't such a screw up."**

Kakashi felt his eyebrow rise. "I haven't even done anything yet. Besides speaking to the Sandaime, but that had always been the plan."

"**That's just it,"** a demonic eye narrowed to glare at him. Kakashi could actually see his own reflection in it. At least in his mindscape he looked like himself. **"You haven't done **_**anything**_**! The hell do you think I put in all this effort for?!"**

Kakashi scowled right back. "We agreed to wait before taking on any of the big problems, and to do so slowly to avoid drastic changes. In fact, that was _your_ idea."

Kurama rolled his head closer so that both of his eyes were trained on the human. **"I told you not to change anything big right away, I didn't say anything about not changing anything at all you dumbass! Your existence is getting shakier by the day and it's screwing with my sleep!"**

Kakashi blinked at him. "…My existence? What do you mean?"

The large fox huffed in irritation. **"You mortal's are idiots. You think you can just hop back in time and be done with it? Change the world consequence free? There was a solid timeline of events that did happen, and at the moment will **_**still**_** happen. You are still going down that same path because practically **_**nothing has changed**_**. The original timeline is still there and your soul has no place in it. You need to cement your place here."**

Kakashi sat down, letting the fox rest its neck, and crossed his legs. He stared down at the grass, absentmindedly running his right hand through it. "My soul doesn't belong. I'm assuming that won't have very good side affects. Why didn't you mention this sooner?"

Kurama gave an irritated sigh and rested his head against his paws. **"I shouldn't have had to. Simply talking with other people would create ripples that would change things up enough to create a big enough difference for you soul to at least be temporarily accepted until we could find a more permanent solution. Of course, with me being here as well talking isn't going to be enough, but I figured you would be hopping all over the place to see old faces and reconnect so I could have some time to adjust to such a minimal power supply. I didn't think you would just hole yourself up in your damned prison cell room and pretend the world wasn't even there!"**

"If I knew this was a problem I would have done it differently," Kakashi retorted sharply. "What happens if I don't create enough of a difference?"

"**A lot of pain and everything you two morons planned being absolutely worthless. If the world rejects you it gets rid of you, and it isn't a pleasant experience. You took your kid self's soul and replaced it with not only your own changed one, but mine as well and I have a Kami damned duplicate out there. The timeline we are traveling right now can't handle that much stress. It needs your original soul and definitely not two of me to be stable so it will get rid of the both of us by erasing us. You need to change the timeline enough that we will be accepted."**

Kakashi rubbed at his eye tiredly. "You make it sound like the timeline is sentient."

Kurama was clearly losing his energy, but he managed to force his eyes open. **"Not in the way you're thinking of. Chakra is all connected, in every living being, and it's nearly impossible to change. Coming back in time doesn't mean our history never happened. In fact, it's more solid than ever. As you went through your life the future was unknown, but now that those events did happen, past or not, they are the events that will undoubtedly happen. You need to change that certainty, bring back the unknown as much as you can, before it can affect you."**

"That's a lot to take in out of the blue," Kakashi tore out a blade of grass and rolled it between his palms. "I basically understand what you're saying, but I've got a lot of questions."

He glanced at Kurama as the fox's eyes opened and closed as slower intervals.

"But it can wait. For now. We need to stay on track, and I need you recovered sooner rather than later. I'll try to… interact more I guess, until you wake up again. Then we're going to have a long talk."

"**Sure,"** Kurama huffed, eyes falling shut and not opening. **"Just…fix it…"**

As the demonic fox drifted back sleep Kakashi tilted his head up to look at the sky.

"Alright," he sighed, shaking his head. "Lets get started then."

First thing was first; he needed access to the village. All he had to do was get Panther or Bear to allow him out on a consistent basis.

Great.

-00-

In the end he chose to approach Bear first. He did not know the current General at all, but he knew Bear very well. It would be easier to focus his efforts on him.

Luckily, Bear was not hard to find. The distinct smell of baked goods filled the air, making it obvious were the large man was.

"Perfect," Bear muttered to himself after lifting his mask just enough to bring a spoon covered in some kind of batter to his lips. Readjusting his mask he grabbed the bowl and made his way over to an assortment of pans that were laid out on the table.

The cafeteria in the Anbu Headquarters was one of the largest and most well furbished locations in the building. Besides the main lobby it was the most likely place to find any Anbu member that was off duty and relaxing. Bear had once told him that they needed spaces like this, where the ninjas could actually take a break and be _people_, or else the stress and tension would take them out far faster than any enemy could.

He hadn't understood back then.

"Bear," he called from the doorway, glancing shortly at the tables lining the main floor area of the room that were packed with masked ninjas. Most of them didn't even have any food in front of them, but the way they were leaning towards the kitchen was a telling sign as to why they were there.

Bear didn't even pause from where he was filling up an oddly shaped pan with green batter. "Hey kid, what do you need?"

"Mah, well," Kakashi allowed his voice to drawl a little. If he was going to be distancing himself from how he was as a kid (that was what he was supposed to be doing, right?) he might as well start now. "I was just wondering if I could go visit the Memorial Stone. Pick up some things from my house as well."

Bear hummed under his breath, using a large spoon to scrape everything out of the bowl. "It's about time you asked to go out. Kids shouldn't spend so much time cooped up. Sure kid, you can go, but you need to take someone with you and I can't do it because I have a meeting soon. This is the perfect chance for you to meet the people you'll be working with. Go pick someone."

"Uh," Kakashi stared at him blankly. "Pick someone like I would pick… a dog? Won't they mind a kid just telling them to get up and take them somewhere?"

Bear huffed out a rumbling chuckle, shaking his head. "Interesting mental image there. And they wouldn't really be taking you there; they would just be following you. Anbu aren't supposed to be seen all that often, not even by our own citizens. Besides, I'm sure they are all curious about you. Shouldn't be too hard to find someone."

"…kay," Kakashi sighed. He was used to the Bear that would fret over him like a mother hen and attempt to help him with every social interaction he had in order to make a good impression. Then again, he wasn't a dangerously depressed teenager with horrible personality problems, so maybe he was more content with letting Kakashi figure things out on his own. It was a shame. He had actually missed that, as he got older.

Either way, he now had to make his way over to the crowded tables.

He stopped walking halfway when, as though it had been planned, every single Anbu in the room went dead silent and turned to look at him.

That wasn't creepy at all.

"Hi," Kakashi waved half-heartedly with one hand, stuffing the other in the pocket of his shorts (Kami, when was the last time he had worn _shorts. _He needed knew clothes.).

"So," Badger responded lowly, twirling a spoon between his fingers, "you're Hatake Kakashi?"

Kakashi let his eye crinkle into his customary smile. "That's funny, I thought we met yesterday. Aren't Anbu supposed to be really smart?"

"Oh, a smart kid huh?" Badger flipped the spoon up and down as though it were a kunai. The others were still eerily silent. "Well, smart kid, what brings you out of your room after so long?"

Kakashi shifted so that most of his weight was on his toes in case he needed to move quickly. It was mostly an automatic reaction to the oddly tense atmosphere, he didn't actually think they would attack him, but they were certainly freaking him out.

"I wanted to go into town and pick up a few things," he answered truthfully, his shoulders relaxed. "Bear told me to ask one of you."

Badger nodded slowly. "I see. So you just expected us to take you without you even bothering to introduce yourself?"

Kakashi tilted his head. It was obvious the Anbu was trying to be intimidating, but he was doing a poor job at it. The others were not helping either. They were dead silent, but he didn't feel any intent from them and the only pressure was the silence. Then again, he was technically a five-year-old, but that would beg the question of why they would want to poorly intimidate a child in the first place.

"Sorry," he scratched at his mask. "That was pretty rude. My name is Hatake Kakashi; I have no intentions of telling you my likes or dislikes. My dream in life is… I have a lot of hobbies."

"…Seriously?" Badger stared at him, a hint of light brown eyes peeking out through the holes in his mask.

Kakashi smiled wider, his mind traveling back. "As for my first impression of you guys… I don't like you."

Wow. If he had thought it was quiet before it was nothing compared to this dumbfounded silence.

A loud, roaring laughter came for the cooking area, shattering the silence. Bear was standing over the oven, head thrown back as his shoulders shook, one mitted hand holding on to the edge of the counter.

As if a spell had been broken the other Anbu rounded on Badger and began shouting.

"You dumbass!"

"I can't believe we trusted you!"

"Oh yeah, 'lets intimidate the kid and make him totally respect us and be in awe of our mighty coolness'! What a Kami damned hoax!"

"He'll look up to us my ass!"

"Damn it Badger!"

"Come here you little-!"

Kakashi took a measured step back as a few of the Anbu lunged forward to grab Badger, who was scrambling back from them desperately.

"Huh," he watched the chaos unfold. How nostalgic.

For a while he was content to just fade into the background. It had been a long time since he caused such a reaction. He missed it.

After a few minutes the cafeteria cleared out as most of the Anbu chased Badger out and down the hall. In fact, besides Bear, only one other Anbu remained.

It was the Turtle masked woman from the other day. She had her arms curled underneath her head, pillowing it.

'_Did she actually sleep through all of that?'_ Kakashi wondered. Shrugging he ambled towards her until he was right at her elbow.

"Excuse me?" he called, standing on his toes to look at her face.

Turtle snorted ungracefully, head shooting up. Her mask was twisted just enough that he saw half of a pointed chin before she lazily batted it back into place. Letting out a jaw-cracking yawn she propped her head on her hand and peered at him through her mask.

"…What?"

She was his last chance.

"Would you mind taking me into the village? I have a few things I want to do but I'm not allowed to leave on my own."

There. Perfectly polite and respectful.

She seemed to think about it for a good, long minute, her head bobbing as though she was having trouble staying awake. Finally, she nodded. "Yeah…no."

He blinked. "Why?"

"Don't wanna," she then turned away from him and buried her face back into her arms.

He took a moment to process this before turning to walk away. That was fair enough. Next he could try-

"UNACCEPTABLE!"

A blurred form shot from the ceiling and slammed into the table inches from Turtle's head. The groggy ninja just let out a long sigh.

Kakashi stared at the Bee masked ninja in horror. One day of spontaneous hugs was enough for him, and he had sworn to avoid to the eccentric woman as best he could.

Which is why he turned on his heel and shot for the door.

A hand snagged the back of his shirt and lifted him into the air. "Worry not dear Kashi-chan!" Bee bellowed directly into his ear. "Turtle and I shall accompany you on your grand market adventure! Won't we?"

Turtle huffed and shook her head, clearly showing that no, they would not.

"I'm glad you agree," Bee bulldozed right past that without a care. "You can always come to us sweet-pea, we will happily forfeit our time to help you out in return for hugs!"

"No thanks," Kakashi sharply lifted one shoulder and dropped the other, making just enough room for him to slip out. Bee scrambled to catch him but he twisted away from her to no avail as Turtle reached out and grabbed his arm in a strong but painless grip.

"…Where do you want to go?" Turtle questioned, brushing Bee away when she reached out to pick him up again.

Things were looking hopeless. At least he could get out of the base but…

Bee grinned down at him brightly. A cold shiver raced down his spine.

_'If you don't get out you could disappear,'_ he told himself. _'You have to take this chance. Just ignore her. You'll be fine.'_

Taking a slight step away from the crazed ninja he focused on the hand still gripping his arm.

"My house. And the Memorial Stone. Maybe the market."

"That's a lot," Turtle bemoaned.

"Let's do it!" Bee cheered. She latched onto both Kakashi and Turtle before shooting towards the door. The two fluttered behind her dangerously.

"Bear-!" his shout was cut off as Bee sped out the door.

"Have fun~!" a deep voice called after them.

-00-

"_Welcome back,"_ Panther greeted the three Anbu in front of her. _"Mission status?"_

"Successful," the butterfly masked Anbu in the middle responded. His voice was low and monotone, with no inflections of emotions. He, as well as his two teammates, were kneeling in front of Panther's desk, heads bent and right arms across their chest in a signature salute.

"_Good. I expect the reports on my desk in three days time."_ She normally did not give them that much time to complete reports but… _"We have a new member joining our team. Meet at training ground zero tomorrow at first light."_

"Understood," Butterfly nodded, before the trio disappeared in a cloud of leaves.

Panther sighed mentally. It was time for introductions. Hopefully the kid would make it through in one piece.

**Ugh, I don't really like how the 'erasing' concept was explained but Kurama will go into more detail when he's actually fully awake so I can try my hand at it again. If any of it was confusing please leave a comment so I can better explain when it comes up. Thanks again for reading! I'm still taking OC's and they don't have to be Anbu. Literally anything can go since Kakashi will be exploring a lot of unknown variables and such. Comments and reviews are welcomed with gratitude and open arms, flames are brushed into the corner of shame! **

**Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6: Dynamic Entry!

**Soooo, the Naruto timeline. Yeah. It's severely messed up in so many ways I don't think I can creatively come up with any valid reasoning to explain half of it. All the major events that happened throughout the series are pretty easy to put on a stable timeline, but all the flashbacks and trips to the past constantly mess up ages and when various people met. So for the most part, as long as it isn't a major event I'm going to be winging most of it. If I can't find any source placing something at an exact point on the timeline, I shall make my own. If you guys see a mistake, please let me know and I will either fix it or explain my reasoning for why it is the way it is. **

**Littlebabyturtlelove: I'm sure there are errors in them, they're just tiny ones that your brain automatically skips over. Mwuahahah! Haha, Noless becomes a big fan, he even gets a t-shirt! Ashren is jealous. Thanks for reviewing!**

**AngelicRiver: Ah yes. Bee. The hugger. Haha, I have no doubt she'll keep him on his toes. Thanks you so much for reviewing!**

**WingedBirdy: Thank you! I work really hard to fix all my grammatical errors when I'm done writing so it's really flattering for you to compliment it! I'm glad Kurama's explanation made sense, I wasn't too confident about it. And he often thinks everyone is an idiot. Which… isn't always false, haha. Bee will forever eat upon the ceiling. It's far too interesting not to! Poor Butterfly. Bee will have no mercy upon his soul. Bee won't really be mentioned in this chapter since Kakashi is in the village and she has to stay hidden. Keep in mind though that everything that happens she does see and will will use to her advantage later. Thank you for the, once again, fantastically kind review!**

**Wynter Sprite: Wow. Thank you! That's really nice of you to say, it brightened my day! Thank you for taking the time to review!**

**Hatakefire: Hey yourself! I would love to add Kimiko (just to check is that first or last name?)! Is there anything specific about her I should know that you haven't mentioned yet? And how old is she? If she is older she could be a teacher or if she is younger she could be a student under the same master as Kakashi, or something like that. My final question (sorry I have so many) is do you have any background history for her or are you leaving that up to me? I can't guarantee future stuff, but past stuff is a definite yes. Let me know! It's okay if you don't have all of that information about her, I'm pretty good at making up backstories. I just want to make sure I do your character justice and don't miss anything. And thank you for reviewing!**

**Dulemina: Your review made me really happy. Not to many people say that, so it was really touching to me. Thank you.**

**Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 6: Dynamic Entry!**

**-00-**

When Kakashi had left Anbu headquarters (after a few more minutes of vice like embraces and unnaturally high-pitched squealing) he had decided to stop by his childhood home first. He needed to grab more clothes and take stock of the weapons and equipment that were available to him. Whatever money he had to his name would be there as well and…

He wanted to get a good look at the home he had always regretted selling.

The moment he had stepped foot outside headquarters the two Anbu with him disappeared into the trees. He was eternally grateful that they had to stay hidden even though he could still feel the chilling stare of Bee drilling into his back. He hated being small.

The walk to his home was uneventful. Many of the villagers stared at him as he passed but it was to be expected. Hatake Sakumo had only recently died and the animosity towards him had yet to die down. Kakashi's trademark silver hair and mask was bound to draw attention.

Still, besides the staring they left him alone, and he didn't have to worry about running into overly familiar faces seeing as how the Academy should have been in session by then. All of his old friends and classmates had yet to graduate so it wasn't likely that he would run into them by accident.

He really needed to stop expecting things to go his way.

The first thing Kakashi noticed when he got to the achingly familiar house was that the door had been veritably smashed apart. It was barely attached to the hinges, a good chunk of it missing (he thought he saw the missing piece sticking out of one of the few bushes lining the outside) and there was a series of deep cracks spanning out from the center of the wood like a web. The rest of the one story house remained untouched and looked to be in good condition. The two windows on the side were still closed and the dark brown paint unmarked. There were a few odd scuff marks in the grass now made by careless feet, but nothing that wouldn't be fixed in time.

First conclusion: Burglars.

Second, revised conclusion: Nearly every single person in the entire village, even most of the _children_, could pick a lock with the ease of a professional and he vaguely recalled that, in his haste to get to the Sandaime once he had awoken that first day, he had not bothered to lock the door behind him. Whoever broke in was not very skilled at stealth.

Third conclusion: Judging by the door the intruder was clearly strong enough to shatter the sturdy door and send a good chunk of it flying, and was not worried at all about being heard or seen in a village filled to the brim with ninjas and well meaning citizens (no matter how much they hated his family). Meaning that whoever broke in was familiar enough not to warrant any real concern. There were few people he had been familiar with in such a way at this age.

Final conclusion: When all was said and done, a dynamic entry was the most likely culprit.

"He's still not here!" a young voice sounded from within the house, freezing Kakashi in the process of halfheartedly untangling the missing chunk from the bush's clutches.

"This has gone on far to long! We must do our duty as citizens of our fine Konoha and report young Kakashi's absence immediately!"

"Yes Papa!"

Well. This was going to be interesting.

Two balls of green energy shot out of the door, knocking the rest of it off its hinges and sending it careening through the air to smash into the ground a few yards away.

At least they saved him the time of having to remove it himself.

Kakashi could vaguely recall meeting Maito Dai once before when he was younger. It was just after Gai had failed the entrance exam for the first time. He remembered saying something that had caused his father to scold him for being rude, but both Dai and Gai had taken it as a compliment.

Gai had also spoken of his father as their rivalry spanned on through the years. Of what an amazing man he had been and how he had taught Gai everything he had known.

See the man now, dressed in green spandex paired with a light yellow scarf with large, bushy eyebrows and an equally bushy beard and mustache, Kakashi had no doubt this was true. Dear Kami, they even wore the same leg warmers. The only thing missing was the bowl cut, but the short, slightly shaggy black hair wasn't far off from being a perfect match.

The pair posed dramatically in the entryway for a moment before their eyes fell on the slouched figure of Kakashi standing in the yard.

Their mouths dropped open simultaneously.

"Yo," Kakashi lifted a hand in a halfhearted salute.

He edged back a few steps when their eyes began to not only grow in size, but began to water as well.

"You-!" Dai started, his mustache quivering.

Gai cut him off, launching himself from the porch and directly into the silver haired male. "You idiot!"

Kakashi stumbled back a bit as Gai clung to him like a limpet, over-large crocodile tears streaming down his face. He patted his old friend on the back awkwardly, forcing back a torrent of memories to be dealt with latter.

"Gai," he called slowly, eyeing Dai warily as the man seemed but a few seconds away from joining the spontaneous hug. "Why did you destroy my door?"

Gai unwrapped his arms only to reattach them to Kakashi's shoulders and begin shaking him back and forth roughly.

"Are you alright Kakashi?! When that Anbu came looking for you Papa said we should check your house in case you were home but you weren't there! So we waited for you and checked each day but you never returned home! What happened? Where you training? Where you kidnapped? Did someone come seeking vengeance upon you for your cold attitude and rude comments towards youth? Did you find a new rival?! What happened to your eye?! Who could have-!"

Kakashi only got about half of that. Gai was shaking him so much that the wind whipped past his ears harshly, blocking out most of what was said.

"You fool!" Dai smacked Gai's head, forcing the young boy to release his rival and clutch the area in pain. "How can he speak if you refuse to allow him the chance to?!"

Gai's tears fell even faster now. "I-I'm sorry Dad! I was just so worried!"

Dai's face crumpled into a mix of sympathy and guilt. "It's alright son. You were just worried for your friend. What a fantastic showcase of your Youth!"

Kakashi covered his eye to avoid the image of the embracing duo being burned into his brain. This scene was far too familiar.

Dai pulled back from his son, giving him a proud, _sparkling_ smile that was happily returned. The two wiped their eyes dry before once again turning their attention to Kakashi.

"Hello Kakashi-kun," Dai greeted, extending his hand. "Perhaps you do not recognize me! We only met briefly once before, but I was a friend of Sakumo-san's! My name is Maito Dai."

Kakashi, deciding it was safe to uncover his eye again, looked at the proffered hand before reaching out to shake it. "I remember. Gai talks about you a lot too."

Dai whipped his head around to give his son a bright, teary-eyed smile. Gai looked at his feet with a bright blush.

"Anyway," Kakashi redirected before they could start crying again, "you didn't answer my question. Why did you destroy my door? It wasn't locked or anything."

"It wasn't-," Dai started.

"-Locked?" Gai finished.

The two shared a long look before bowing in front of Kakashi dramatically.

"We are very sorry!" They shouted into the dirt.

Kakashi scratched his mask idly. "It's fine I suppose. As long as that's the only thing you broke."

He moved his hand from his cheek to the bridge of his nose when they grew panicked and let out another round of apologies.

"Well," he sighed, moving to step around them, "I should at least look at the damage before deciding to forgive you."

"I shall take full responsibility for any and all damages!" Dai shot up, saluting to the sky solemnly. "This I swear!"

"But Dad!" Gai looked dismayed. "Most of that was my fault!"

Dai shook his head with a small smile. "It is a father's duty to watch over their sons, and I was also at fault. Do not worry Gai; your whole life is ahead of you! Do not let one mistake squander your youth!"

"Papa," Gai warbled.

Having reached a decision (and sharing a quick hug) they turned to look at Kakashi expectantly, only to realize he was, once again, missing.

"Kakashi!" Gai shrieked in horror. How could he have disappeared right in front of them?! What kind of ninja were they to let a friend be snatched from right beneath their noses!

Kakashi stuck his head back out of the house, staring at them with a deadpan look. "What?"

"Oh," Gai grinned, rushing to catch up. "I thought you had been whisked away again."

"I wasn't 'whisked away' in the first place," he replied, ducking back into his house.

"Then where were you?"

"Mah, well… who knows?"

Gai's eyebrows twitched. "You should know! You were the one missing!"

"Was I?"

"Yes!"

Dai chuckled under his breath as the two bickered. He was glad his son had found a friend, and that said friend was safe. His thoughts travelled to the bandages around the young Hatake's left eye. It appears that he hadn't been safe the entire time he was missing. Why had Bear, a very high-ranking Anbu member, been looking for a young child? Did he know where Kakashi was yet?

"Gai!" he called, raising his hand to brush thoughtfully over his mustache.

"Yes Dad?" his son leaned out one of the windows the see him better.

Dai grinned at him broadly. "Why don't you spend some time with Kakashi-kun? I have an errand to run!"

"Okay!" Gai's eyes sparkled at the idea. "I'll see you at home then!"

"Goodbye son!"

"Bye Dad!"

Turning on his heel, Dai rushed through the streets towards the Hokage Tower. Whether Bear knew or not, it was his duty as an honorable Konoha ninja to report any odd happenings to the Hokage. The Sandaime would know what to do.

-00-

There was a light tapping at her door, to which she tapped the surface of her desk in reply.

The door creaked open (she would have to oil the hinges again) and the familiar mask of her second-in-command peered around it.

_"What?"_ Panther signed swiftly, quick to return to finishing off the progressively smaller stacks in front of her. She was so close to being done with this batch. She might even finish ahead of schedule.

"Just checking in," Bear entered the room fully, his hands hidden behind his back. "I saw Butterfly earlier. Is everyone back?"

Panther narrowed her eyes behind her mask, hand slowing. _"They are. What are you hiding?"_

"Nothing dangerous," he hurried to assure her. She was not convinced. "I just noticed how stressed you seemed lately and, seeing as how the whole team will be training together soon, I figured you should unwind a bit before you kill anyone."

_"If I kill anyone it will be their own fault,"_ Panther pointed her brush at him sharply. _"I won't ask again. What are you hiding?"_

Bear brought his hands forward and even with his mask on she could sense the wide, toothy grin on his face. "Tada~!"

Panther stared at the object in his hands for a long, silent minute before sighing and moving some of the papers off her desk and onto the floor next to her.

Bear wasted no time in swooping into the seat across from hers and placing the leaf shaped cake on the open space. Panther opened the bottom drawer of her desk and pulled out two plates, setting them in front of Bear and herself.

"_A leaf. How iconic."_

"I thought you'd appreciate it," Bear pulled out a kunai and carefully cut out two fairly large pieces.

"…_Thank you Bear."_

The large man nodded, his eyes crinkling around the edges. "Happy to be of service Taicho. Shall we?"

Panther placed her hand over a small seal on the underside of her desk, sealing the door so no one could barge in. Bear pulled off his mask and rested it on a stack of papers to his left while Panther simply shifted hers so it rested on the side of her head. Clapping her hands together once she pulled out her own kunai and cut off a small piece of her slice of cake.

Not to sweet, a very light coating of frosting, and a spongy center. Her favorite. She could practically feel the stress in her shoulders melting away alongside the chocolate cake, lifting her mood greatly.

"So?" Bear leaned forward eagerly, having yet to touch his own slice.

"_Better than the last one,"_ she answered, taking off a larger chunk this time. _"Just the right amount of frosting this time. Well done."_

This time she could see the smile that stretched across his face. "Great!" he cheered, finally digging into his own piece. "I'll remember that."

Panther nodded, only half listening now as she took the time to think over the rest of her week.

Tomorrow the entire team would train together for the first time in about a month. She would have to introduce Hatake as their new member, which came with its own concerns. Bear already proved he could get along with the kid well enough, but that wasn't surprising. Rabbit would accept him easily, but could possibly let her concern for his age affect any stable teamwork they might have. Luckily the brat seemed fairly skilled. If she focused on showcasing his strength for Rabbit the woman would most likely step back. They were in Anbu after all. Crane wouldn't question her judgment, but it would be difficult for the kid to earn his respect. That would only come with time, but she had no doubt he would act professionally in the meantime. The main problem would be Butterfly then. He never had taken well to strangers, especially not ones he determined as weak. A five-year-old would not be acceptable. She could force him to accept Hatake on the team, but that would only jeopardize their teamwork. She would need to get Hatake to do something that at least made him acceptable. His scores were above average, no doubt, but certainly not high level. Although…

"That can't be good," Bear broke her train of thought abruptly. She leveled him with an annoyed glare. He raised his hands slightly in self-defense. "You've got that look on your face again. That creepy 'someone's about to suffer' look."

She rolled her eyes. _"I have no such look. I was simply planning tomorrow's training session."_

"Oh," Bear deadpanned. "Great. So I might be the one suffering then."

_"Eat your cake,"_ she ordered him, flicking her last bite into her mouth before reaching out to get a new piece. _"You'll just have to wait and see."_

"Yay," he cheered dully, but left her to her thoughts.

_"I'll have to go earlier than usual,"_ Panther thought, savoring the taste of Bear's cooking. _"It should work, in theory." _She let a small smile curl the edges of her lips, ignoring the extremely worried look on Bear's face as she did so. _"They needed a new routine anyway. Two birds with one stone."_

"Oh boy," Bear muttered under his breath. A smiling Panther often meant terrible things to come.

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

-00-

"Is your eye okay?"

"Probably."

"You mean you don't know?"

"It's possible."

"What happened to it?"

"Who knows."

"You should know!"

"Probably."

"Agh!" Gai tugged at his hair in frustration. Curse Kakashi and his cool attitude! Couldn't he see that he was just worried about his rival's well being?!

"Hey, Gai," Kakashi paused outside the only room in the house they had yet to visit. As they had traversed from room to room Kakashi had been stuffing various things into the backpack he had brought with them but they had passed this particular room numerous times without even glancing in.

"Yes?"

"Wait here for me," he placed his backpack on the ground and reached out to touch the sliding door. "There's one more thing I need to do before we go."

"Oh, okay," Gai nodded. "Wait, where are we going?"

"Places. Just wait here, okay?"

Gai nodded swiftly, placing himself at the side of the door like a guard dog. Kakashi gave him an odd look before shaking his head and entering the room. The door slid closed behind him with a soft 'clack'. Gai did not move, keeping a steady vigilance for any intruders. He still didn't know what had happened to Kakashi in the few days he had been missing, but it had obviously affected him deeply. There was an odd air about him now; one Gai was determined to get to the bottom of. No one hurt his rival, his _friend_, and got away with it.

When the door opened again a crick was starting to develop in the side of Gai's neck. Kakashi had been in there for a long time, and when he came out the smell of incense followed after him. He seemed lighter, too. His shoulders weren't as slumped as they had been, and his eye seemed just a bit brighter.

"Did you do what you needed to?" Gai questioned, reaching out to lift Kakashi's bag for him. It was rather heavy, and while the other was very skilled he did not have the stupendous muscle mass that Gai had accrued. It was not that he was worried about Kakashi's injury at all. Or about his odd behavior. Certainly not.

"Yeah," Kakashi's eye closed, crinkling around the edges as he smiled warmly. "I guess I finally got around to it."

Something had definitely happened in the time he had been gone. Kakashi was not one to smile often, and certainly not with such life and warmth. It was a good change so far, Gai believed, but no less odd.

"That is good!" he cheered. "It is better late than never, whatever it is that you needed to do."

"Huh," Kakashi looked to the side thoughtfully. "Does this count as late? Not anymore I suppose."

"…I do not understand!" Gai shook his head roughly, his black hair flying to and fro. "But I am glad for you!"

"Thanks Gai," the silver haired boy smiled at him again, shocking him once more, before walking towards the front entrance. "And you didn't really break anything important, so you don't have to worry about it."

Gai disagreed. "I should not have broken into your house without your permission, or broken anything either. I will work hard to repay you! And if I can not I will do one hundred push-ups with only one arm!"

Kakashi glanced at him. "Not one thousand?"

"I have never tried one thousand," Gai replied easily. "But if that is what it will take I will do my best!"

Kakashi let out a small laugh (a laugh!) and patted him on the shoulder. "I have no doubt you will. For now though, just carry my bag. If you can carry it for the next few hours I'll forgive you."

"Yosh!" Gai cheered loudly. "I will carry this bag to the ends of the earth!"

"Maybe not that far, but thanks either way I guess."

"Ahahahahaha!"

"…It's good to see you again Gai," Kakashi mumbled, to low for Gai to pick up.

"Did you say something?" He questioned, looking at his friend.

"Hm?" Kakashi glanced at him, looking surprised. "Oh, Gai. When did you get here?"

"Agh! Your cool attitude will not get me today Kakashi!"

"Did you say something?"

As Gai began roaring his usual spiel about 'youth' and various 'attitudes' Kakashi lead them down the street and away from his home.

It had been good to see it again, the way it had been so long ago. It was good to see Gai again too. Even as a child, he hadn't changed at all. Kakashi was grateful for that.

"Where to next?" Gai seemed to have calmed down from his tirade.

"Hmm, I wonder," Kakashi shrugged.

"How can you not know? You just _said_ you had other places to be!"

"Oh, did I?"

"_Yes!_"

"Mah, well I suppose we'll figure out as we go then."

Gai's face was turning a very interesting shade of red. He takes back what he said, Gai was slightly different. He was far easier to mess with now. Perfect.

"Ah, that's right. I was going to the Memorial Stone."

Gai brightened immediately. "Then I challenge you Kakashi! The first one to reach the Memorial Stone is the winner!"

"Sure," Kakashi shrugged. "And the loser has to spend an entire day of classes in just his underwear."

Gai seemed horrified for all of ten seconds before he gave his trademark grin, thumbs up and all. "That is a cruel punishment to give yourself, for there is no way I will lose in speed!"

"We'll see about that," Kakashi rolled his shoulders back and bounced on his toes a few times. "Are you ready?"

"Always!"

"Kay. On your marks-"

"Get set-"

"Go!" they both shouted before tearing off into the streets. The competition was fair enough. Kakashi couldn't really use his true speed, seeing as how his body had shrunk and his muscles had lost nearly all of the mass he had had as an adult. Though he did wonder about how long it would take Gai to realize that he didn't actually have classes anymore.

"I'm winning," Kakashi called breathlessly from his spot ahead of the green blur. He really needed to start working on his stamina. The whole week cooped up in headquarters had been spent on flexibility and getting his hand signs back up to speed. He would need to talk to Panther about setting up a regular training schedule for him.

"Not. For. Long!" Gai was turning red again. His fists were clenched as he pushed himself harder, willing his legs to go faster.

Kakashi worked to match him, keeping his eyes forward in case they were about to run into anything. People were mostly dodging out of the way, letting out startled shouts as the boys flew past, but he still had to jump over a few crates here and there. And nudge Gai to the side every once in awhile before he took out some poor old woman.

"Aha!" Gai cried when the Memorial Stone finally came into view. Kakashi smirked and directed a bit of extra chakra into his legs. Gai gapped at him as he suddenly shot forward, pulling ahead by a good distance. When he glanced back Gai was pushing his legs as fast as they would go, going so far as to clench his eyes shut as though the lack of vision would miraculously improve his speed.

Shaking his head fondly, Kakashi skidded to a halt next to the Memorial Stone and braced himself for impact. Gai slammed into him a few seconds later, sending the two of them tumbling through the grass before they skidded to a halt.

"D-did I win?" Gai gasped for air, struggling to stand.

"Af-afraid not," Kakashi was in no better shape. What little air he had left had been forced out of him when Gai had collided with him.

"Foiled a-again."

They lay there for a long while, attempting to catch their breath.

"What's the score?" Kakashi wondered, staring at the clouds above them.

"3-5 in your favor," Gai groused, obviously unpleased.

"So you've won three times then."

"Soon to be four!"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

"Aghhhhh!"

Kakashi smiled at the sky. He'd leave the market for another day. For now, he just wanted to lay here and stare at the clouds with is friend.

-00-

**So in the manga Kakashi met Gai while they were in the Academy and Sakumo was still alive. In the anime they met after they had both become Genin. And while Kakashi graduated early, he is still around the same age as everyone in his generation. (I'm not even going to try to reason through the Chuunin exam and everyone's supposed ages at that point because dear lord that is a mess.) I decided to go with the manga version because Kakashi needs a friend dang it! A crazy friend that is actually normal in all the chaos! Anyway, I hope you guys liked this chapter! This was technically supposed to all be part of the last one but I was trying to create a valid timeline of things and it was getting ridiculous. Blah. Let me know if you ever notice anything wrong timeline wise that I might not have noticed! OC's of any kind are still being accepted and will be accepted for quite some time. All I need is name, age, and a little bit about them.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7: Panther's Revenge

**This chapter focuses on Kakashi's new Anbu team. He is going to be in Anbu for quite some time so I really needed him to have some consistent characters to interact with. Besides Bear and Panther there is one canon character, one of my own OC's, and a guest's OC. More canon characters will be showing up in the next chapter!**

**AngelicRiver: Gai is by far one of my favorite characters. He's so youthful! And Kakashi will savor this precious time of safety. It won't last long, haha. I would love to have Koumori in this story! Is Koumori his first name or is Ookami (I can never be to sure, people always switch it on me)? How would you feel about him being one of Iruka's teammates (for the life of me I can't find anything about them, so create them we shall!)? Thank you for reviewing!**

**Dulemina: Thank you for pointing those out! I would have completely skimmed over them every time I read through. I'll be sure to go back and fix those! Thank you so much for taking the time to review and help me with editing!**

**Wynter Spite: Merry Christmas! And thank you! I'm still iffy on how to write Dai. He is very similar to Gai, but there is just enough difference to make me question what he should do and say all of the time. I'm glad you liked their interactions! Panther is one of my favorites so I get really happy when people say they like her as well. You get to know her more in this chapter so please let me know what you think! And I agree. The Sandaime is as crazy as a bag full of cats. Ninja cats! This review definitely made me happy (they always do)! Thanks for reviewing again!**

**Here's a guide to text changes, since Panther will be speaking quite often in this chapter.**

Konoha- Narrative

"Konoha!"- Speaking

_'Konoha!'_\- Thinking

_"Konoha."_\- Panther signing

**Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 7: Panther's Revenge**

**-00-**

The clearing was silent, the only sound being the slight rustling of the leaves as the wind brushed through them. Panther sat in the middle of it all, legs crossed and arms resting across her knees. It was peaceful. Serene.

It wasn't often that she could enjoy moments such as this. Ever since she had met Sarutobi Hiruzen her life had started on a crazed path of responsibility and overall mayhem. She did not regret it (though sometimes she came close) but she did miss moments like this.

Opening her eyes Panther glanced around. Training ground zero looked like it always had. She had been extremely careful not to create any distortions in the clearing during her… renovations.

This particular training area was well hidden just outside of the village gates and behind the Hokage Mountain. It was surrounded by various high level seals and traps and was rarely empty. An Anbu operative could be found training here at any hour of the day. The only reason she was alone now was because she had reserved it for the day in order to train her team.

She still had around an hour before any of the others showed up. She could either continue to meditate or double check and make sure everything was in order for the training exercise.

Ten years ago she would have taken the chance to relax. Now, however, the extended period of silence was making her restless.

With a slight sigh she lifted her hands to form one of her most familiar handsigns. The earth beneath her gave a slight lurch before opening up. The stone dragged her underneath where she burrowed deeper and deeper, towards her latest creation. She almost wished that her main affinity had been Earth. It would have made this far less time consuming.

-00-

"Where are we going?" Kakashi asked as Bear lead the way through another cluster of trees. He already had a pretty good idea, but it never hurt to ask.

"Training ground zero," Bear replied, slowing his pace so that the small boy could keep up. "It is a hidden area specifically designed for the Anbu forces."

"Ah," Kakashi looked at him with interest. "Why are we going there?"

"To meet your new teammates."

"Who are my teammates?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Why didn't we just meet up back at Headquarters?"

Bear turned his head just enough that Kakashi could barely make out one dark brown eye staring at him from the eyeholes of the mask. "…You ask a lot of questions kid."

Kakashi's eye crinkled at the corners as he smiled. "I like to stay informed."

"Uh-huh," Bear said disbelievingly. "Well, you're in luck then. Panther will be going over everything you need to know to be a part of the General's team in excruciating detail."

"Hm," Kakashi hummed in the back of his throat. He was once again struck by how small he was compared to everything around him. The trees towered above him and a small stone upon the ground was now closer to a boulder in comparison to his height. It was both irritating and daunting. He prayed for a growth spurt soon.

"Alright," Bear stopped and turned towards him. The large man kneeled and held out his hands. "This particular training ground has a secret to getting into it. There are a lot of traps and Genjutsu around so you need to be careful. There is no straight path, either. You have to go through at least a few traps to get to it. I'm going to show you the easiest route, so pay attention."

Kakashi nodded in understanding. He was lucky that whatever route Bear was going to show him was one he most likely didn't know. When he had first joined the Anbu he had taken it as a challenge to go through the most heavily guarded areas each time. He just tacked it on as extra training.

As they picked their way through a twisted path through the trees Bear pointed out a few ninja wires hidden in the bushes and told him whenever they were in a genjutsu. Kakashi played the part of the bewildered young ninja well enough and soon they were entering the familiar clearing of Training Ground Zero.

The rest of the team was already there. Kakashi looked them over curiously.

Panther was sitting at the center of the clearing, legs crossed and arms resting across her knees. She seemed to be meditating. Her dark black hair was held in a tight bun at the back of her head, like it was every time he saw her.

Next to her was another female Anbu with a rabbit mask. Kakashi was surprised to realize he recognized her. He had never known Taji very well, but the apprentice of Hiruzen Biwako was impossible to forget. Her shoulder length brown hair was pinned up to keep it out of the way, and while he couldn't see her eyes he could guess that the light brown iris' were closed as she meditated next to the General. He knew she was an extremely capable medic, but to see her on the General's team meant that she must be skilled in combat as well. He had never known she was in Anbu though. Interesting.

Unlike Taji, he didn't recognize the other two. The taller of the two had the Crane mask and short, dark brown hair that was pulled back into a short ponytail. He was leaned up against one of the many trees around them, arms folded casually across his chest. The other, shorter male had the Butterfly mask and long black hair that reached his middle back. It was braided tightly and Kakashi could just make out a small glint of metal within the strands. Whoever made a grab for his hair would be in for an unpleasant surprise.

When Bear and Kakashi walked into the clearing Panther stood up and the others moved to kneel in front of her, right arms crossed in front of their chests. Kakashi followed their example. It was a customary respect shown to the Captains of Anbu.

_"Before we get started there are a few changes that need to be addressed," _Panther started right away. _"Two days a week, for the next two months, the entire team will meet for training. This is to make sure this team's ability to work together remains strong and to help integrate our new member."_

Panther gestured towards Kakashi, turning all attention towards him.

_"This is Hatake Kakashi. He has yet to receive a mask but will be joining this team for as long as I see fit. Those are the only changes you need to be concerned with."_

"You want us to train with a child?" Butterfly demanded, his voice tinged with disbelief. The small looks shared between Crane and Rabbit showed that they felt the same.

_"Yes. Is that a problem?"_ Panther stared him down, unmoving.

Butterfly didn't seem to want to back down, but when Panther tilted her head to the side he leaned back. "No Taicho."

_"Good,"_ Panther looked down at them. _"Let's begin."_

Kakashi felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. The General's voice had not changed and her posture gave nothing away as per usual and yet…

The moment she had finished signing, every one around him had immediately tensed.

"Panther," Bear called out quickly, hand twitching. "I think-"

_"Request denied,"_ she cut him off abruptly, the last part of her sentence being lost in an unfamiliar sign.

No, not unfamiliar. That wasn't sign language, that was a hand seal!

_"Good luck."_

A second later the ground opened up beneath them. Each one of them jumped swiftly, desperately trying not to fall into the various holes that had suddenly appeared.

Panther had jumped a few seconds before them.

She took out Bear first. Raising her leg above her head she brought it down on his head violently, sending him spiraling down the far tunnel. The ground closed up after him, looking as though it had never moved in the first place. Using the following momentum she flipped over and latched on to Butterfly's back, forcing him into a strangle hold. Allowing gravity to take hold she fell back, slamming into Crane who had been right beneath them. The combined weight of the two ninjas knocked the wind out of his lungs, making him fall through the next hole. Panther wrapped her legs around the arm that Butterfly was using to try to knock her off. Digging a hand between his neck and shoulder she pinched down on the skin. Butterfly froze, loosing control of his limbs for a few, precious seconds. Panther unraveled herself and casually tossed him down the closest tunnel, watching it close before he could regain control. She had pushed off his back to keep herself in the air. Pulling one arm back she punched Rabbit in the stomach right before the other woman could touch the ground. The blow sent Rabbit tumbling into the second to last tunnel, hands scrambling to find purchase. The shorter woman managed to dig her nails into the side and was preparing to lift herself up when a shadow fell over her.

Panther stared down at her, Kakashi flung over her shoulder like a sack of grain. The General stared her down languidly. Placing one foot on Rabbit's mask she shoved her off the wall. Rabbit decided to spare herself some pain and let herself fall. As that tunnel closed Panther strolled over to the final one and dangled Kakashi over it easily.

"Uh," he looked down nervously. "Why, exactly, are you dropping us down pits?"

_"Training,"_ Panther replied shortly. _"You have a chance to prove yourself. Don't waste it."_

She dropped him.

-00-

Butterfly scowled behind his mask. Once his feet had touched the ground again he realized he was in a large network of tunnels. Torches lined the walls, illuminating the walls and ground. There had been a small scroll near him that imitated a mission scroll. They each had an object to find and the tunnel system Panther had created most likely linked up with where the others had been dropped. If only he knew how to find them.

Normally navigating tunnels wouldn't be a problem for him, but Panther had done something to them. Or him. Either way, his Byakugan wasn't working.

How irritating.

Now he had to deal with the fact that his greatest asset was useless but he had to come to terms with working with a _child _as well_._ The General's team was made up of the most elite. Butterfly had worked tirelessly, for years, before he had been accepted. _Tentatively _accepted at that. Yet this boy was welcomed for no discernable reason. It was both suspicious and demeaning, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Shaking his head to clear it, he took stock of where he was. All of the walls looked exactly the same, no marks revealing what might have been the right way to go.

Not one to be deterred he picked up a loose stone and threw it down one of the tunnels. The sharp noise it made echoed slightly before getting cut off.

A dead-end.

Repeating the tactic for all of the surrounding tunnels he was able to rule out four of the eight.

Luckily, there had been nothing about stealth in the 'mission scroll' he had found just next to the drop he had been shoved down. It was unorthodox but he spent the next ten minutes rapidly running up and down the last four tunnels as well as any other offshoots that appeared. If there had been any enemies he had no doubt that they would have found him within seconds.

The first sign that he was going the right way was when the floor opened up beneath him for the second time that day to reveal a pit filled with sharpened stone spikes. It would have been easily avoided if he hadn't been running so quickly. As it was he had to rapidly twist his upper body to flip back the way he had come.

That trap would never have worked if he had been going any slower. It always sent a chill down his spine how she could predict his moves so far in advance without a Kekkei Genkai. She would make a dangerous enemy.

At least he knew he was going in the right direction now.

All of the other tunnels had had various other routes branching out, but this one was straight and getting progressively wider. The next trap was far less subtle. Light from the flames of the few torches shined off of thin, metal wires stretched farther than he could see. The ninja wire crisscrossed across itself dangerously, leaving only small gaps in its wake. He couldn't see where it ended.

Stretching out his arms, Butterfly bounced on his feet in preparation. Double checking that every hair was in place and accounted for he stepped forward and ducked into the wire maze-

SPLAT!

Butterfly flinched as something sharp exploded across the surface of his mask. Maneuvering his arm around he pulled it from his face to look at it.

A brilliantly pink splash of color covered the far left side of not just the mask, but now his hair as well. He sniffed at it lightly, nose scrunching at the familiar smell.

Paint?

Now that he took an even closer look there were small holes along the wall where the wires connected. With how closely everything was put together he couldn't avoid the projectiles and the wires at the same time.

Damn it. Was this Panther's way of getting back at them? He knew she had been furious when the others had messed with her room a few weeks back, but he hadn't even _been_ there when they did that! He had specifically told them he wanted no part of it!

But this was the only way through. All of the other tunnels had either ended or branched off in the opposite direction. He had to go through.

"Tch," he clicked his tongue, moving forward once again.

The sounds of splattering and curses echoed down the tunnel, reaching the ears of a young five-year-old boy. Said boy looked up from where he was placing a small statue upon a slightly raised pedestal. Tucking an exact replica of the same statue under his clothes the child took off down the tunnel on the opposite end of the room.

A minor explosion rocketed off the walls, followed by even more rapid fire cursing.

-00-

Crane's head rose in shock as the walls around him shook. It seemed like the after shock of some kind of small-scale explosion. Too far away to affect where he was, but he had no doubt one of his teammates had been much closer.

He had been walking for about twenty minutes, one hand trailing the walls. These tunnels were designed like a maze, and they couldn't be more than a few miles long. They were impressive, to be sure, but not overly complicated. Torches lined the walls as well, providing ample enough light in most areas. Panther must have spent quite some time creating all of this.

When he had first fallen down into the tunnels he had been worried that this was another conditioning training. Perhaps Panther would leave them trapped for a few days without sunlight in order for their bodies to adjust and harden. It was never a fun experience, but it was necessary for them to be able to handle a wide variety of harsh terrain and mental strain.

Which is one of the many reasons why he was so confused about their newest addition to the team.

While it turned out this wasn't a conditioning program Panther had cooked up (simply gathering an item and finding his teammates in the underground? That was easy. Suspiciously easy.) it did not dissuade his concerns about Hatake Kakashi joining the Anbu.

Many strong minded adults failed the training regimen required for the General's team. Many failed the requirements for Anbu in general. Those who did make it were either highly skilled in multiple areas or were placed there by the Hokage for political or village related reasons. It was not a place for a stable mindset. Everyone he knew was unstable in some way, or on their way to becoming so.

A child's mind was extremely malleable. The smallest of things could impact their growth all the way into adulthood. A few years in Anbu could morally destroy a strong minded adult, but a child? It would break them. Irrevocably.

Crane new that both his Hokage and General were not cruel people. They may make cruel decisions, but always for the betterment of the whole village. So why did they place Hatake on the most dangerous team of the most inhospitable ninja group of all of Konoha (besides Root, but he did not consider them as part of the village in any way)?

It couldn't be his abilities. War or not, if Hatake was truly that skilled then he would not be in Anbu. He would either be with some team on the front lines or used as some kind of poster child to showcase the village's strength. There were many skilled children, none of which were even considered being placed in Anbu.

Crane doubted it was for political reasons. Anbu was often considered a mark of achievement by some of the clans, but Hatake had no clan. Not anymore. The other clans would not push for him to be placed here either. Many had viewed Hatake Sakumo as a traitor; they would not want his son to be in any position of influence and while Anbu was the most loyal division of Konoha it was also one of the most powerful. The Council had no control over them.

It must be to the benefit of the village then.

Hatake was five. What possible _benefit _would a five-year-old child-?

Crane's thoughts were immediately cut off when the walls on either side of him shook for half of a second before rushing to meet each other with him in the middle. Launching himself forward he managed to roll forwards just far enough to avoid being crushed.

The walls did not reopen behind him.

_'Well then,'_ he thought dully. _'I must be going the right way. Or I have to find some way around this.'_

He shoved his concerns to the back of his mind. The closer he got to the item he was supposed the grab, the more traps there was likely to be. One could not just waltz into Panther's traps with a mind half-occupied.

It was a good decision.

Over the next hour Crane was nearly impaled, crushed, burned, electrocuted, snapped in half, beheaded, poisoned, suffocated, drowned, stabbed, and bitten (it was that _damned cat again!_ Did Panther purposefully put it there or did it manage to sneak in somehow? How did it keep getting into secure locations?!).

By the time the tunnel opened up into a large cavernous room he was both irritated, and paranoid of every loose stone.

At least he could see the artifact he was supposed to be getting. It was an orb of some sort. All he could really make out from this distance was that it was green. It rested on a small, raised pedestal that would come up just past his waist. It was also the only thing in a wide-open area where he would have to cross over a large part of the floor to reach it. There was no sign of any traps.

He didn't trust it for a second.

_'Let's see,'_ he looked around carefully. _'If I can attach a wire to the other side I could come at it from above. Panther might have planned for that though, and I don't want to be midair if something goes wrong. Underground? That might work. If I-'_

"Is this your mission objective?"

Crane twitched, eyes darting across the room where a second cave opening was. Hatake Kakashi came strolling out of it casually, approaching the pedestal without a care.

"Hatake wait!"

It was too late. A brilliantly white seal curled out from the orb and across the floor. Crane pushed off from the ground, launching himself at the small boy as quickly as possible. The light was nearly blinding by the time he reached him. Curling his fingers around the front of the kid's shirt he lifted him and threw him back the way he had come. Hatake let out a startled yelp as he flew backwards.

Crane landed on the ground and rolled to the side, attempting to escape. He had to close his eyes for fear of being blinded.

Every inch of his skin was tingling, itching ferociously. He went through an odd second of weightlessness before gravity seemed to triple and he could barely move his limbs.

When the light began to fade, so too did the heavy pressure.

As soon as he could, Crane placed his hands under him and pushed himself up. He looked towards where he had tossed Hatake and locked eyes (or eye) with the shocked child.

"Uh," Hatake muttered, looking Crane up and down. "Sorry. Thanks for saving me from… that. Wow."

A pit of dread settled in his stomach. Did he dare to look down? With a hesitant, jerky motion Crane scanned himself over.

He changed his mind. Panther was, undoubtedly a cruel human being.

The customary Anbu uniform that he had grown so used to wearing was gone. In its place was a shorts-sleeved, light pink kimono. A woman's kimono. The soft, silken fabric was decorated with dark red butterflies and the collar stretched out over his shoulders, leaving them bare.

And his _skin!_

He looked like he had been dropped in a river filled with dye. His normally dark tan skin was now stained light green, silver swirls and flowers daintily scrawled across what could be seen. He had no doubt it extended to the rest of his body as well. His shoes had been switched out for a pair of simple pink sandals with a flower on the side.

Pulling out a kunai from his pouch (which, while it was thankfully still attached to his thigh, he had to lift up the bottom of the Yukata to reach it which made him feel uncomfortably… ugh) and angled it so he could see his mask. His light brown hair had been released from its short ponytail, the edges falling down to frame his mask. His mask had a few added designs (because they were simply _designs_, not attempts at _make-up _on its porcelain surface damn it!) and there were silver flower shaped earrings glistening at him mockingly.

"You look… nice," Hatake's face was blank as he spoke.

Crane clenched his hands into fists. Where were his clothes? Was this paint washable? How the _hell_ did those earrings get there when he didn't even have any holes for them to be in?!

"I'm sorry," Hatake looked down and away from him. "I was supposed to be helping all of you with your missions, not messing it up."

Crane took a deep, steadying breath. "…Pay more attention to your surroundings. What are you doing here?"

The boy scratched the side of his mask, tugging absent-mindedly at the bandages around his left eye. "I found a scroll by the tunnel I fell down. It said I was supposed to help get four artifacts."

"Not get your own?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Well," Crane sighed, "you've already set off the trap so now I don't have to worry about it going off while I get it. Good job."

Hatake hunched his shoulders, clearly hearing the heavy sarcasm. "I, uh, got it for you. I figured you wouldn't want to go near it again so… here."

The child held out his hand, the orb from the pedestal held in his palm. It was almost too big for him to grab with one hand.

Snagging it from his hand, Crane lifted it up to examine it. A solid green sphere, no other markings or scratches. It was extremely plain, but he shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

"You should get going," Crane motioned for the kid to move on. He had not made a good first impression. "You can't help me, and the others are most likely almost done."

"Oh," Hatake glanced at him before stepping back towards the tunnel he had appeared from. "Okay. Bye."

The kid scampered away, leaving Crane to his thoughts.

Dear Kami, were these clothes _glued_ to him? How was he supposed to get these damn things off?!

-00-

"Hatake-kun!" Rabbit whispered softly, trying to get the young boy's attention. She had been exploring the caves for quite some time when the young ninja had suddenly appeared down one of the many turns. He turned to look at her in shock, his one visible eye wide. "Hatake-kun, it's me. You have to be very quiet."

His eyes narrowed at her, his fingers curling to form a surprisingly familiar sign. _"Why?"_

So he was already picking up on Panther's signs. Impressive for such a young mind.

She lifted her hands in response, making it as easy as possible to understand as she could. _"Seals on the walls. Activated by sound."_

He looked around for himself before nodding.

_"Mission?"_ he tilted his head, making Rabbit smile under her mask.

_"Artifact. You?"_

Hatake waved his hand from side to side. That was odd. Did that mean their missions were different?

He made his way over to her, thankfully taking note of her position pressed up along the far wall and following suit. She didn't think she could use any easy signs to explain how the center of the tunnel was so weak it would crack immediately under any weight. Not enough to be dangerous, but definitely loud enough to activate the seals. She wasn't sure what the seals would do exactly. While she was fairly well versed in sealing there was an odd character in the center that was unfamiliar.

Hatake reached her side and pointed down the way she had come from.

_"__Anything?"_ he signed curiously.

Rabbit shook her head. _"Traps."_She pointed towards his tunnel.

_"Traps,"_ he replied, looking tired.

Rabbit wondered what kind of traps Panther would have set up around Hatake's drop point. Nothing overly dangerous, she hoped.

Still, at least it narrowed down the choices. There was only one other way to go at this point.

_"This way,"_she motioned for the child to follow her. He nodded and fell in line behind her as she led the way.

There were even more seals the further they went. Even the simple whisper from earlier would have set these ones off. The tunnel was also growing narrower. The chance of their footsteps echoing off the walls was becoming a worryingly likely outcome. Looking back at her tagalong she brought her hands up to show the need for lighter steps. Hatake's brow furrowed in concentration as he stared at his feet, as though willing them to be silent.

_'How cute,'_ she cooed mentally. Honestly, she wasn't sure why Panther had accepted such a young boy onto their team. It was true that ninjas started out young far more often than not, but in Anbu? It was traumatic work, no matter how good you were. In fact, the better you were the worse it was. Higher skills meant more dangerous missions, and their team was at the top of the ladder. Why force a child into this world?

Hatake looked up at her with his eyebrow raised. Rabbit, realizing that not only had they not moved for at least thirty seconds but that she had been staring down at him oddly, turned forward and began walking once more.

After another few minutes of walking the ceiling was now getting so low she had to bend her knees and tuck her head down to avoid touching it. Hatake was fine, his miniscule form fitting in the space easily, but Rabbit was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Their pace slowed. Seals plastered the walls so that barely any of the actual rock could be seen.

Before it could get any smaller she stopped walking, grateful that Hatake didn't bump against her. Twisting her hands behind her she strained to sign properly.

_"Too small ahead. You need to lead."_

She couldn't turn enough to see his response but he solved that problem by tapping her back to show his agreement. Rabbit straightened as much as she could, creating just enough room for him to squeeze past her. Once he was in front of her he wasted no time in continuing their journey.

Rabbit would have let out a sigh of relief if it wouldn't have set off the terrible trap Panther had set. Now, if something did happen, she would be able to shield him better.

A small light appeared in the distance, signaling a possible exit. It grew as they got closer and Rabbit prayed it wouldn't be much longer. She was crawling forwards now and even Hatake was slouching down to make himself smaller.

When they finally reached what appeared to be the exit Hatake froze. Rabbit frowned and reached out to tap his shoulder.

The child fell forward, rolling slightly to the side with the fall as his body went limp. Rabbit scrambled to grab him. What one earth happened?!

A flash of movement grabbed her attention, making her look up from the fallen ninja. She felt her blood freeze in her veins at the sight of the creature before her.

That wasn't possible. It couldn't be here, it wasn't even indigenous to this area!

The creature lunged.

-00-

A high-pitched scream echoed throughout the caves. Butterfly's struggles to escape the web of rope he had become in tangled in ceased for a moment before he redoubled his efforts with twice the amount of force.

Crane's head snapped up. "Rabbit?" He had been trying to peel to Kimono off but it was stuck fast. After he heard the scream he took off running in the direction it had come from.

Bear frowned uneasily. He was waiting by his drop point for everyone else to finish their missions. He had already found the item he was looking for (a stone pendant with a flame etched into the center) without much difficulty. He had assumed everyone else would find their objectives equally as easily but that scream did not bode well. Pushing off the wall he went to investigate.

-00-

"Ugh," Rabbit groaned, her head pounding. What on earth happened? Where was she?

Pushing herself up on her arms she cringed at the odd, slimy substance that seemed to be covering her from head to toe.

"What the-?" she looked herself over. A thick, tar like substance wrapped around her like a cocoon. A sweet smell reached her nose, taking her aback. "Is this… Caramel?"

"Rabbit?" a small voice grabbed her attention. She looked up, eye's widening at the huge wall only a few inches from her nose. "Rabbit, are you awake?"

There was a small hole on the wall a few feet off the ground. Rabbit pulled herself over to it and looked through.

Hatake Kakashi's wide eye peered back at her.

"Hatake-kun?" she shook her head to clear it. "What happened?"

"You screamed," he replied, shocking her. "I think there was a genjutsu on the room that made us see things. When you screamed all of the seals went off and this wall appeared. Are you okay?"

The seals.

Rabbit looked at the goop surrounding her once again. Was that what the seals did? They shot caramel at her? And the thing she had seen-

She shivered violently, the memory returning.

"I-I'm fine," she offered quickly. "I s-shouldn't have reacted that way. Are you okay Hatake-kun?"

"Yeah. I can't get through though. I have your artifact. It's small enough that I could probably squeeze it through here."

"…Yeah," Rabbit nodded, forcibly shoving her fear away. "Yeah, that's a good idea. I don't know what will happen if I try to force my way through. Can you get out over there?"

Hatake's eye disappeared as he moved to shove whatever the artifact was into the hole.

"There's another tunnel over here I can try. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I am," Rabbit took the opportunity stand. Ugh, the caramel was weighing her down. _Why_ was she covered in caramel? She hated caramel.

Wiggling her hand into the opening she managed to pinch the end of the item and help pull it out. It was a small knife and sheath. Nothing out of the ordinary besides a flame like design along the bottom.

"Thanks," she called out, scrapping away as much caramel from her hip pouch as she could before putting it away.

"No problem. Since you have your item you can go back and wait by where you were dropped right?"

"That's what my scroll said," Rabbit was happy to speak again after the long silence from before. "You said yours wasn't quite the same?"

"I don't have an artifact," Kakashi answered, his voice a little more distant. "I'm supposed to help you all get yours."

"Oh," Rabbit thought about it. It made sense, she supposed. Have the new member, the child, act as a support so that they get used to him but they don't push him to hard. "Well, thanks then!"

"I didn't do much," Kakashi brushed the gratitude away. "I should go find the others though."

Rabbit felt a little disappointed. She was just starting to talk to him! Still, he did have a mission to complete.

"Okay. Make sure to pay attention to your surroundings! Who knows what other traps there are."

"I will, thanks."

Rabbit listened for his steps, waiting to make sure that the tunnel he had gone down wasn't a dead-end. After ten more minutes she assumed it wasn't.

"Rabbit!" A voice suddenly called from behind her. She turned around as Crane came crawling through the small hole she had originally come from.

"Crane!" she exclaimed in surprise. "What… What are you _wearing!_"

In the dim torch light (it was impressive that they stayed lit this whole time) she could see his ears turn red. It matched his Kimono well.

"T-that doesn't matter, I heard you scream! Are you alright? What happened? And what the hell are you covered in?"

"Caramel," she deadpanned, trying not to laugh at him. "I set off one of Panther's traps."

"You to, huh?" he sighed. "Well, do you have your artifact yet?"

"Yup," she nodded, moving to stand next to him. "It was a knife. Yours?"

"A sphere of some sort. Is your drop point nearby?"

"Uh-huh. I was just about to head back."

Crane looked at her unsurely. "Are you sure you're okay? I've never heard you scream before."

She blushed in shame. Thank goodness she was wearing a mask. "I was just… surprised by something. That's all. I'm really okay."

"Okay," he sounded unsure but didn't push it. "Lets go back together then. I don't think there are any more traps back that way, but two pairs of eyes are better than one."

"Rabbit!"

The two looked down as some kind of multi-colored, half-charred mess burst out from the small tunnel. Butterfly rushed towards them.

"What happened? Are either of you hurt?" he demanded.

The three of them paused, taking a moment to look each other over.

"Panther's trap?" Rabbit and Crane asked simultaneously.

Butterfly sighed harshly, which is all the answer they needed. "That woman, what is with these traps?!"

Rabbit scooped an extra handful of caramel out of her hair and shook her hand violently to throw it off. "I don't know. I just know I'm going to be taking a long, loooong shower after this. Do you have your artifact Butterfly?"

"Of course," he huffed, pulling out a crystalline statue the size of his hand designed like a tree.

"Wow, that's pretty," Rabbit looked it over. "I just had a knife. Crane had a green sphere. Why do you get the pretty one?"

"Because you two are plain," Butterfly shot of blandly. Ignoring Rabbits affronted gasp her turned away from them. "If you two are fine then I'm done here."

"Were you worried?" Crane smirked.

Butterfly glanced at him from the corner of his eye. "… I can't look at you. Talk to me when you are dressed less revealingly."

Crane spluttered angrily, Rabbit breaking into a small fit of giggles. Butterfly radiated smugness. Leaving his two teammates behind he went back the way he had come from. After a few moments they moved to follow.

-00-

"Kid?" Bear tilted his head when Kakashi came around the bend just a few paces away.

Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Bear."

The tall man looked behind the kid. "Uh, you okay? I thought I heard someone scream over this way."

"That was Rabbit," Kakashi answered, scratching the back of his head. "One of the traps got set off and it… startled her?"

"…Kay," Bear edged away from the tunnel. Rabbit didn't scream. Not unless something creepy had showed up and he was not a fan of creepy. "Have you completed your mission? I've already finished mine so I can help you out."

Kakashi's entire posture seemed to deflate, drawing his interest. "Not… exactly."

"You can't find it?"

"No, I don't have an artifact."

"Oh? What was your mission then?" he wondered.

"I was supposed to help get the artifacts," Kakashi sighed, kicking at the stones near his feet. "The only thing I've done is cause problems."

Bear folded his arms and leaned back against the stone. "It couldn't have been that bad."

Kakashi barely even glanced at him. "…I set off a bunch of seals that trapped Rabbit, Crane had to save me and got caught in my place, I couldn't even find Butterfly, and you didn't need any help at all. I was worse than useless, I was a burden."

Bear grimaced behind his mask. It certainly didn't sound like a successful 'mission'. Poor kid. He was practically forced on this team thanks to the Hokage so even if he were sorely unprepared he would have to stay on it. The secrecy around him also meant that he wasn't really allowed to tell his teammates why he was there. Bear didn't even know the real reason. Feeling useless and unwelcomed in a place you couldn't leave was not a fun way to live.

"Here," Bear reached into his bag and pulled out the small pendant. He bent down and held it out to the boy.

Kakashi finally looked at him, eye narrowed suspiciously. "…What?"

"Hold onto this for me," Bear offered. "Honestly, I can't do much else, but if this were a real mission guarding these items would be just as important as getting them in the first place. Don't feel too down, kid. We're all expected to be the best of the best, and if we don't need help we don't usually take it. My guess? Panther did all of this to help all of us get used to you being on the team. We've never had someone so young before; it'll be an adjustment for everyone. So, carry this for me as though it really were a real artifact and plan better for the future. You'll do just fine."

Kakashi stared at him for a long moment before the corners of his eye crinkled slightly to show a smile. His tiny hand reached out delicately and grabbed the pendant from Bear's hand. "…Thanks."

"Don't worry about it," Bear replied, standing up. "A team sticks together. The only place I haven't explored is over by my drop point. I'm assuming that's how you'll get back to yours. Come on."

The walked in silence and Bear decided to leave the kid to his thoughts. He obviously wasn't having a good day.

"This is where I wait," Bear pointed up, coming to a halt. "That tunnel over there is the only one I didn't check, so you should be good going that way."

"Alright," Kakashi nodded. He reached into his leg pouch and pulled out the pendant. "Here. Thanks for helping me out."

"Don't worry about it," Bear grinned, tucking the pendant away. "Head straight back to your drop point okay?"

"Sure," Kakashi shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "See you up-top."

"See ya kid."

Kakashi strolled down the tunnel, his posture relaxed once more. Bear only had to wait for a few minutes before the ground above him opened fully, signaling that he could leave.

-00-

"_We'll do this one at a time,"_ Panther didn't bother looking up from the scroll she was looking over. She was sitting in the exact same spot they had last seen her in, although a few scrolls and a pen now surrounded her. The others shared a look, Bear staring at each of them in turn as he finally got a good look at them. _"Crane, you first. Report."_

Crane crossed his arm diagonally across his chest in the customary salute. He was grateful her gaze was so focused on her scroll instead of his new… look. His ears burned when he felt his teammates eyes drill into his back.

When he finished reporting what had happened he pulled out his item and held it out.

_"Hm,"_ Panther finally looked up, picking up the orb and turning it back and forth. Setting it to the side she went back to reading. _"Rabbit."_

Crane stepped back, feeling oddly nervous at the lack of comment on his report.

Rabbit stepped up and took his place. Her steps were slow, the caramel starting to dry. She had tried to get rid of as much as she could but there had been too much to get rid of entirely.

She sped through her speech and hastily offered the knife to her General.

Panther grabbed the knife, unsheathing it and inspecting it thoroughly. Placing it next to the orb she motioned for Rabbit to step back.

_"Butterfly."_

They were all starting to feel nervous now. There was a heavy feeling in the air that only grew with each report.

As Butterfly moved forward the paint on his clothes cracked and flaked off with each step. He forced himself to show no sign of his annoyance. This was obviously a test of some sort. Keeping his report short and to the point he grabbed the statue from his pack and offered it to her.

This time Panther barely even glanced at the statue before setting it next to the others. She waved her hand dismissively. When Bear stepped forward she rolled up the scroll and steepled her fingers under her chin.

Bear frowned when she didn't bother to sign anything. All she did was nod for him to get on with it.

Something wasn't right.

"After receiving my mission I managed to locate the item within a few minutes. While there were a few, simple traps surrounding its location there was no trouble retrieving it. I waited back at the drop point until it was time for extraction where I ran into the kid. Acting on regular mission parameters I gave the item to him for safekeeping. Should anyone try to get it back from us they were least likely to target him, making him an obvious choice. There were no other complications."

Bear could feel the dark glares of the others behind him as Panther wordlessly dismissed him. He didn't know why his path had been so easy. They had all obviously gone through some form of hell, so why hadn't Panther done anything against him? What was she planning?

"_Hatake,"_ Panther leaned forward, an air of smug triumph surrounding her that made the others shift uncomfortably. _"Did you complete your mission?"_

Both Rabbit and Bear felt a spark of concern for the child while Crane was indifferent and Butterfly felt pleased. They all new how the boy's 'mission' had gone.

Kakashi's eye closed and curved up to emphasize his lighthearted smile. "Yes."

_"Report."_

They weren't sure how she did it, but the small hand sign managed to convey the smirk that was undoubtedly on her face.

Kakashi reached under his shirt and pulled out a bag that had been strapped to his back. "After receiving my mission I memorized the map and destroyed both of them in case they should be discovered on me."

_'Map?'_ the others wondered collectively.

_'Oh no,'_ Bear groaned mentally.

"I made it to the closest location before the enemy and immediately switched out the original with the fake. Afterwards I made it to the second location and noticed the trap waiting for whoever got too close to the item. Unable to disarm it, I waited for someone to show up before triggering the trap. The enemy, believing me to be an ally, pushed me to safety and fell victim to the trap. While they were preoccupied I switched out the items and convinced them that the one I gave them was the real one. I was quickly dismissed so I moved on to the next target. After joining up with another of the enemy force, who had also believed me to be an ally, we made our way to the third objective. There were sound activated seals covering the entrance and a genjutsu placed over the area that would show someone their greatest fear. I did not warn the enemy and took cover. Whatever they saw shocked them into hysteria, which in turn set off the remaining seals. They were quickly trapped behind a rock wall with only a small opening. After they had calmed down I gave them the fake to dissuade them from attempting to break through and took the original with me as I moved towards the last position. Unfortunately, the last object had already been retrieved. The last enemy ninja was highly skilled so I could not simply take it by force. Luckily, I was able to manipulate them into giving me the item for safekeeping. When they asked for it back I simply gave them the fake."

Panther held out her hand for the bag, which Kakashi handed over graciously. The Anbu behind him were gapping at the two in shock.

Panther pulled out a replica of each of their items from the bag, looking them over with a discerning eye.

_"These are the originals,"_ she nodded. _"Well done Hatake. That will be all for training today. Hatake, you will be returning to headquarters with me. The rest of you, clean up. Report back here for additional training in exactly one hour. It seems we need to review the basics of item retrieval missions. Hatake, as the only one to successfully complete your mission you are exempt from this training. Dismissed."_

Panther, leaving them little to no room to process what had just happened, placed her hand on Kakashi's shoulder. The two disappeared in a swirl of leaves, but not before they all got a very clear view of the smiling child's face. That was not the look of a downtrodden child; that was the look of a victorious spy.

"…You have got to be kidding me," Butterfly hissed, hands shaking.

Rabbit shook her head in disbelief. Mind flashing back to the previous events. How could she not have noticed?

Crane began to harshly scold himself mentally. He should never of let his own, personal doubts over the child's skills get in the way of the mission. If Hatake had been older his actions would have been extremely suspicious, and yet Crane had allowed himself to be blinded by age.

Bear reached under his mask to massage the bridge of his nose. Leave it to Panther to screw them all over like this. Still, he was pretty impressed. The kid was a phenomenal actor, and strategist apparently. He'd gotten them all good.

"I'm pretty sure I don't have to say anything," Bear said, readjusting his mask. "But I'm going to anyway in case any of you missed it. Hatake Kakashi is on this team for a reason, and so far he's proven he's full of surprises. Panther has accepted him, and after that performance so have I. You don't get to choose who you work with, and Panther expects you to work with them regardless. This was a lesson. Learn from it."

With that he jumped into the trees and headed back towards base. _'I handed it to him. Dear Kami I'm getting soft.'_

Maybe that was Panther's plan for him. He felt pretty embarrassed about it. What kind of second in command was he, to be taken off guard by a child?

He had his own lessons to learn from.

-00-

"Well," Kakashi crossed his arms behind his head as he walked besides Panther down the main hall. She was keeping her pace slow enough for him to match without to much effort, which he was grateful for. "That was fun. Is training always like that?"

Panther looked down at him. _"Sometimes. It is good to keep them on their toes. Don't expect it to ever be that easy for you again. This was a one time deal."_

"Understood," he agreed easily enough. "I do have a question, if you don't mind."

_"What?"_

"Mah, well, all of those traps were pretty embarrassing. You targeted them each mercilessly. Except Bear. Why?"

Panther snorted, rolling her eyes behind her mask. _"Bear is shameless. None of those traps would have made the impact I wanted. I didn't target him specifically."_

"What did you target?" he gave her a slightly worried look.

_"His passion,"_ she smirked behind her mask and left it at that.

Kakashi was about to ask when a loud, mourning wail echoed through the halls.

"NOOOOOOO!" Bear's voice was filled with agony. "My oven! Why? WHY?!"

Kakashi stepped away from the General when she started laughing. Instead of any regular laugh he had ever heard it was simply a few, sharp exhales but the way they bounced off her mask made the sound eerily unnatural.

_'Note to self, stay on Panther's good side.'_

At least he knew his team would be interesting.

-00-

**Aannnnnddd scene! This took me far longer to write than I thought. I kept getting stuck on what traps to have Panther set up. As for the other characters, Butterfly and Crane are OC's (Crane designed by me and Butterfly given to me by a guest) but Rabbit (Taji) is not. She is a canon character. She was there when Kushina gave birth to Naruto and was killed by Tobi alongside Sarutobi's wife Biwako. For a hint for the next chapter, Minato will finally be making an appearance! There will be a tiny time skip, only a few days a week at most, since I'm trying to start moving towards at least some of the big moments in the timeline. Let me know what you guys think!**

**Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8: That Can't be Healthy

**Wynter Spite: Bear is the ultimate cinnamon roll. He just can't help himself! And Kakashi is a troll through and through. I'm glad you liked it! As always, thanks for the review! They cheer me up!**

**Bleedingangel95: Thank you! And really, its not the ovens fault! As for Koumori, is there anything else you would like to add with him? You don't have to, but I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything about him I was missing before I started expressing full on creative liberty with him, haha. Also, I'll let you know before I post the first chapter that he is in but it might be a while since Iruka is still very young (I don't actually think he has been born yet? He still has a year to go I think). There will be timeskips coming up though, so it shouldn't take forever. Thanks for reviewing again!**

**ShiiroiKitsune21: Kakashi can be such a little troll sometimes and I love it! A hint for the creature Rabbit saw is that it only lives in really hot climates and has no fur. It will make a comeback with a vengeance! I'm pretty sure the Hokage gave away the butterfly mask as a joke but the Hyuuga pride would not allow him to complain to his lead so he just rolled with it, haha. Bear is very embarrassed. Panther will never let him live it down. A team that stays together is punished together, whether they were all in on it or not! And besides, Butterfly may not have helped them but he totally new about it days in advance. Not so innocent in the end. *****pat pat* Thank you very much! And I always accept hugs, always! Thanks you for your amazing review as always!**

**Dazai-san: Haha, thank you! Glad you liked it, and thanks for reviewing!**

**Pioupioute: Agh! The names always trip me up! The English version of Naruto I watched as a kid so often the I've got most of the names, first and last, down pat but the third hokage was always 'the third hokage' so I still mix his first and last name up sometimes. Thanks for reminding me though! I'm not sure if anyone in Anbu has sanity, not even Panther or Bear, haha. Instead of sanity, Bear can be full of cookie dough! That sounds plausible enough to work. Thanks you for waiting and especially for reviewing! **

**ano: He looked awesome in those clothes, he must admit to that! I'm glad you like them so much, I like them a lot too! Thanks you so much for reviewing!**

**Not-Gonna-Update: …Your username speaks to me. I'm glad you like this chapter! Mini-Anbu are going to rule the world one day, just you wait! (I'm not really joking there, either) Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you liked it!**

**AshesGleamandGlow: Delivery! I hope you like this one too, thanks for taking the time to review!**

**Mouse-size-Dragon: SpyKashi is a beast in many forms! Sanity has no room here! Thanks for reviewing! All these reviews make me so happy!**

**Tabjoy13: The Sandaime makes a lot of word play jokes and is sad whenever no one gets them, haha. And oh boy, just wait until Bee and Guy and Dai meet eachother. The youthpocalypse will be what ends the world for good! Haha, thanks for taking the time to review, it means a lot. Enjoy this next chapter!**

**Do you guys want me to keep putting up the guide to text changes in each chapter for reference? I wouldn't mind. Still accepting OC's and will be for awhile. Small and big roles, whatever works. Ninja, citizen, enemy, elderly, child, angsty teen, whatever. Naruto's world is big and Kakashi needs to make some changes, so new people start butterfly effects! Thanks for taking the time to read!**

Konoha- narrative

"Konoha!"- speaking

'_Konoha'_\- thinking

"_Konoha."_\- Panther signing

**Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 8: That Can't be Healthy**

**-00-**

It had been a little less than a week since the 'team training' exercise and he still had yet to go back into town for the supplies he needed. Most of his time had been spent with Panther or Bear, going through equally hellish training regimens.

With Bear he would work on physical conditioning and flexibility, pushing his body far enough that he felt the pain but not enough that his young body would fall apart. He would meet with him every morning, just before sunset, and go for a run in the woods before they began. It was nice to spend time with the man, actually appreciating his company this time around. They spent the entirety of the mornings together before they parted ways at noon. Bear would give him a list of exercises to complete for the day on his own time. Kakashi new from experience that the man had an almost eerie sixth sense and would know if he skipped any of them. Not that he would, he valued the self-improvement, but he used to care very little and Bear had always managed to find a way to make him do it anyway.

During the afternoon he usually found himself sitting across from the General in a small workroom.

Panther focused on strategy and manipulation tactics. She had been impressed with how he had used the team's expectations against them but wanted to push it farther than that. His physical test scores had been relatively normal for his age, his knowledge of chakra and ninja arts far above (even if he was not actually able to put any of his knowledge into practice at the moment), but his scores in strategy and intelligence had been phenomenal. Panther decided it would be best to focus on increasing his mental capabilities and learning new ways to apply his knowledge.

"_Being a spy as a child is far different than being a spy as an adult,"_ she had explained on their first day. _"The world looks at you very differently, whether they mean to or not, as shown by yesterdays practice session and you must look at it differently in turn. While you are on this team for your own protection it would be too suspicious for you to just sit around the base for however long you will be in Anbu. You may very well be part of it for life, and if you are on my team you will have to work to earn your place here. That means missions. Until you are older and more capable of defending yourself you will be placed strictly on intel gathering and minor infiltration missions. You will never work solo, if it can be helped, so I recommend you get to know your teammates and some of the other Anbu members. Until you are ready to begin chakra manipulation exercises we will meet here every day at 13:00 to increase your knowledge base and application levels. You must eat lunch before you come here, and I encourage you to bring snacks, as you will not be leaving this room until much later in the day. Any questions?" _

She had signed the entire time, obviously having caught on that he had a deep working knowledge of sign language. Thankfully his knowledge made it seem more like a prodigal accomplishment than anything suspicious.

It was also an interesting topic to learn about. Kakashi had not been involved in a lot of spy work as a child, working more as a front lines fighting force until his teen years, and his students had never pursued more than the basics of infiltration (besides Sasuke, but his knowledge was learned… elsewhere) so he had never really learned how different it was for children to utilize these skills than an adult.

It was interesting.

The two switched off once. Apparently they were going to do this at least once every week or so, to change things up enough that his body did not grow used to either training and become complacent (which he didn't really see happening, but whatever made them happy he supposed).

Bear's physical training was long but at a steady pace he could take on his own. It would last a good chunk of the day but it didn't push his body past its limits.

Panther's physical training was brutal. After a few days of Bear's productive, yet slightly laid back training he faced a day of pure torture. Panther had no mercy, and by noon he was ready to fall into the deep abyss of unconsciousness. The General had said it needed to be harsh every once in a while for the body to make the serious improvements it needed and that as a child his body would adapt better and it was a good way to force his body to adjust and grow at a quick rate but it _hurt_. The training was nowhere near as difficult as it had been when he was an adult, but his five-year-old body was so pathetically weak it pained him.

After numbly shoveling his food into his face (garnering a few sympathetic looks from onlooking Anbu) he moved on to the next part of his day.

With Panther he would go over various scenarios and they would work together to pick out all of the intricacies of what could and could not be done, finding where he would be positioned the best at all times. Bear simply took him out into the training ground, dropped him into some obstacle course type of simulation of his creation, and forced him to run through it over and over again until he got through it perfectly with no mistakes. Which wouldn't have been so bad if he didn't change it after every single attempt. He even recruited some of the other Anbu to help out, and they were all too happy to pick on their new baby member. With his muscles screaming and his lungs constricting painfully it had been a long, long day.

To be fair, he was making leaps and bounds in improvements. That didn't take away the pain though.

Both Bear and Panther decided to forgo anything but the basics of chakra and jutsus for now. The General had noticed that his spiritual chakra was much higher than his physical (which while she had been slightly suspicious, Kakashi was pretty sure she had chalked it up to the 'mysterious seal' on his eye and heightened intelligence), which could cause problems down the road if not fixed. Instead they would work on boosting his physical chakra until it was more evened out.

Kakashi was fine with this. He already had a handle on how to deal with chakra and the huge differences in Yin and Yang chakra would have been difficult to muddle through on his own anyway.

Today would be his day off of training. His two teachers had demanded that he do nothing more than basic stretches in order to give his body a chance to heal and catch up to all the changes that were going on before their team training tomorrow. The prefect opportunity to get some other things done.

It wasn't until he woke up that morning, well before the sun was up, that he realized something was wrong.

Kurama had warned him, and while he did not fully understand the nuances of what was going on he knew that limiting his interactions with others would negatively affect him in the end.

He hadn't really expected this though.

An uncomfortable soreness in his chest had been what woke him up. When his eye had fluttered open he had been immediately buffeted by a wave of sudden pain that had him curling into a ball in a vain attempt to restrain it. This pain was unnatural, and definitely had nothing to do with training the day before. His bones felt achingly hollow, every movement making it feel as though they would shatter with the slightest pressure. His blood boiled in his veins and his chest compressed tightly to cut off his oxygen supply.

Stumbling to his feet, his limbs shaking like paper in the wind, he managed to drag himself over to the small dressing table. Glancing at the mirror on the top he frowned at the brilliant pink coloring of his right eye, making it look infected, and the blood spatters decorating the bandages on his left. His skin looked grey; sickly.

His hands crossed over the front of his body, fingers digging into his sides as he fell to his knees and curled over until his head was pressed flat against the floor.

Kakashi sent up a grateful 'thanks' that he didn't have training today because it took nearly an hour for the symptoms to fade. The burning feeling gradually slipped away, his shaking becoming less and less substantial.

Once only the aching in his bones remained he was able to stand once again and lock the door (thank Kami no one had come looking for him). Fingers still vibrating he slowly began to unwrap the bandages from his head and approached the mirror once more.

Naruto's seal was pulsing.

Kakashi brushed a tentative finger over it, flinching at the sharp sting the motion brought. It was almost like a heartbeat, the way it expanded and fell back. It was an uncomfortable glaring red, which would normally indicate an infection but it wasn't likely for one to have set in so quickly without him noticing.

Kakashi squinted a bit, bringing his face closer to the mirror.

Along the lines of the seal there were small, almost unnoticeable lines mixed in that branched out from his eye. They almost looked like… cracks? As though his skin was so dry it was crumbling away.

"…That can't be good," he mumbled to himself, twisting his head from side to side. Did those cracks start on the surface of the skin or did they originate from deeper in his eye and had only expanded far enough for him to see? His other eye was steadily returning to normal, and the pulsing was dying down, but the cracks did not seem to be disappearing in the slightest.

Humming thoughtfully in the back of his throat Kakashi scavenged around his room for spare bandages. There was no use worrying about it, especially since he already had an idea of what the cure would be.

"You guys must be laughing it up," he grumbled under his breath as he changed into his more civilian styled clothes. "I actually have to socialize in order to live. I bet this was your idea, somehow. Karmic revenge."

Once he finished complaining to his late friends he checked himself over in the mirror to make sure he looked less like a dead corpse walking around. He could always blame it on the training he was put through but he doubted anyone would actually fall for it.

A simple light blue t-shirt with a long, sleeveless green coat thrown over the top, dark brown cargo pants, and the standard blue shinobi sandals. More colorful than anything he ever really wore but it certainly helped him seem less grey in the face. His right eye seemed completely normal now and no new blood was leaking through the bandage over his left (not that he knew where the blood had come from. None of the scabs over the seal seemed to have broken and the cracks were not so deep as to get below the skin yet so the blood must have come from inside his eye which was… not a comforting thought.)

Well, he was as good as he was going to get. Time to procure himself a 'bodyguard' for the day.

Thankfully Bee had been sent out on a mission yesterday and wasn't expected to be back for at least a week. While her energy reminded him fondly of Naruto and often times Gai, it also gave him minor headaches and the paranoia of being watched at all times. He had always been wary of physical contact. Her hugs were far to constricting and smothering.

His first stop was the cafeteria. It was still early, the sun just barely beginning to peak over the horizon, but there were a few Anbu milling around. Kakashi paused at the doorway and weighed his choices.

Badger was half-heartedly eating a bowl of noodles (at least it looked like noodles), his mask pushed up to reveal the lower half of his face. Kakashi noted the scar marring his skin from just underneath the curve of chin, up over the right side of his lips and past the barrier of his mask. He didn't recognize it, which was a bit of a relief. As the days passed he found himself growing more… anxious about meeting his old friends. Not that he could let that stop him now, but it was nice interacting with people he had never known before. However, that also meant Badger was not the best option right then. He needed familiar. Something he could change, even if only a little.

Turtle was also there, a discarded piece of toast in front of where she was slumped over the table. The steady rise and fall of her shoulders was a clear indicator of her plans for the day. She was usually forced to escort him around alongside Bee, and she was also in the same boat as Badger, so he decided to let her sleep.

Hawk had his back leaning against the table, ankle crossed over his knee as he flipped a kunai back and forth between his hands. The empty bowls must have meant he was done, and he would have been a perfect candidate for a bit of change, but Kakashi hesitated to call on anyone in the Hokage's main guard. Either Hawk had just gotten off duty or was waiting to switch out with Owl for the day. Their jobs were hard enough as it was, he didn't really want to interfere with them when they were busy or actually had off time.

Crane and Rabbit were sitting together at a table near the furthest end, pouring over some scroll. He immediately scratched them off the list. Unlike Crane, Rabbit would have been a good choice but he had been avoiding any of the General's team like the plague since their training session. Not out of fear of revenge, but because it was funny to watch them try to catch him alone only to be foiled every time. Rabbit seemed to think he was scared of them, which made her jittery every time she tried to approach, Butterfly avoided him right back, Crane was getting increasingly frustrated by his failed attempts and really, it was just too much fun to end now (Naruto had definitely rubbed off on him) so he let his gaze skip right past them and on to the next. He would re-evaluate Rabbit if he could not find a better choice.

The Anbu perched on the far window shifted, drawing his attention and once he caught a glimpse of the mask he felt his hands clench slightly.

Bird had not been an overly close ally, mostly by Kakashi's self-imposed solitude, but they had gone on a few missions together, including the one where Orochimaru was first discovered as a traitor. He was one of the few Anbu who seemed to be growing old with the job, even making it through Pain's attack on the village. When Kakashi was Hokage and had to pick his personal guards Bird had been one of the few names he actually debated on. He most likely would have been picked too, if not for a tragically sabotaged mission in Kumo. He never did find out what happened there, too much risk and damage to attempt it at the time, but he had felt the loss of yet another ally. An almost friend.

Bird was younger now, late teens Kakashi would guess. He did not bear the mark of Anbu captain yet and his mask held no wear and tear of age. He must have joined recently then.

Making up his mind Kakashi began to make his way across the spacious room. He paused just in front of Turtle's table, ducking down so that her body shielded him from view when Crane glanced up. Hopefully he wouldn't sense him past Turtle.

Once the tall man refocused on his reading, adding some muffled comment to Rabbit who huffed in response, he continued. Badger was staring at him oddly from over the rim of his bowl but seemed too lethargic to actually say anything.

Once Kakashi was close enough he shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched slightly before clearing his throat.

Bird looked up, and then down, at him. "…Aren't you the new kid?"

Dear Kami, his voice was high. Kakashi was struck yet again by how young everyone he ever knew was now. Many had to even be born. It was surreal.

"Mah, I wonder," he shrugged.

Bird tilted his head. "…Okay? Did you need something?"

Kakashi's eye curved into a small smile. "Panther said I need to bring someone with me when I leave and I have some things to do in the village."

Bird scratched at his neck unsurely. "And you want me to take you? We've never even met before, why don't you pick someone else?"

Kakashi was about to dismiss the concern with another flippant remark when he recalled that the best way to change how people treated _him_ was to change how he treated _them_.

"There's nothing wrong with making a new friend," he replied instead, thinking for a moment before tacking on an amused "Believe it" at the end. Embodying the personalities of his friends every once in awhile would definitely change others perspectives of him and make for an entertaining show if he timed it right.

Bird seemed at a loss for words.

"…Please?" Kakashi tried.

"I guess that would be fine," Bird said slowly, as though testing the words on his tongue. "I don't have a mission or anything and the weather is nice."

"Thank you," Kakashi beamed with perhaps too much energy. He would have to tone it down a bit.

Bird waved the thanks off. "Don't mention it, it'll give me something to do at least."

"Sure," Kakashi agreed easily enough. "Lets go ask Panther then."

"…What?"

Kakashi was already strolling away and Bird scrambled to follow him.

"Hm? Did you say something?"

Bird's fingers fiddled together nervously. "W-what about the General? Why do we need to talk to her?"

There was a decidedly nervous squeak to his voice that Kakashi would never let him live down.

"I can't leave unless she gives me permission. I just wanted to save her the time of finding someone to go with me. Is something wrong?" Kakashi picked up his pace a bit. He wanted to get to Panther before Bird panicked and bolted.

"I-it's the _General_," Bird shook his head, running a hand through his spiked dark hair nervously. "I only joined a month ago, am I even allowed to talk to her?"

That was precious. Really, it was. Bird had always been rather solemn, but had never had a problem speaking to authority figures before. Then again, he was a new recruit so perhaps some nervous energy was to be expected.

"It's fine," Kakashi waved his hand easily, the gesture odd coming from a child. "She'll probably be grateful to get me out of her hair for awhile."

"U-um-."  
"Here we are!"

Without waiting for his companion to answer, Kakashi knocked at the door softly. There was a slight tapping noise in return and he opened the door.

_"You have until sunset,"_ Panther glanced up at them before continuing to read over the scroll in front of her. The office was much cleaner than last time, Kakashi noted with surprise. Far less stacks of paper and none reaching above his height this time. Impressive. _"Bird, well done on taking initiative with our youngest recruit. Keep an eye on him at all times and bring him back immediately if he is approached by any suspicious or high-ranking individuals, the only exception being the Hokage. You may go."_

"Yes ma'am!" Bird saluted sharply.

Kakashi's salute was slower, but no less respectful. "Thank you. I'll be back later."

Panther nodded, returning her full attention to her work. Kakashi and Bird made their way back out, the taller male slumping in relief once the door was closed.

"There. That wasn't so bad, was it? Panther's nice."

"Y-yeah," Bird breathed shakily, attempting to shake off his nerves. "That was easy. No problem."

"Great," Kakashi nodded easily. "Let's go then."

Time to get to work.

-00-

Seeing as how all of his friends (or at least the only ones he was even remotely prepared to meet at this time) were still in school Kakashi decided it was time to do a little shopping while he waited. There were only so many shorts he was willing to wear. A simple henge to change his hair color to a light brown (the amount of focus that took was ridiculous, he would have to ask Kurama if there was a faster way to level out his Yin and Yang chakra when the fox woke up again) was all he really needed to go unrecognized. The collar of his jacket covered his facemask well enough and his eye was not common knowledge so while the bandage would definitely draw attention it certainly wouldn't give him away.

At first he planned on just getting a few sets of his old outfit, but he vaguely wondered if even changing that up would create a few of the 'ripples' Kurama had talked about. He didn't particularly want to, but it couldn't hurt to try at least. That decided, he added a bit more color to his wardrobe and tossed in whatever style caught his eye.

Using one of the storage seals he had found at his house to take care of his new purchases he moved on to weapons. Nothing too serious, for now. A new set of kunai, shuriken, and senbon. A few explosive tags (it took a while to argue past the vendor that _yes_, he was a ninja and knew what he was doing) as well as some new storage seals to increase his stock. Using a more prominent weapon at his current height and body mass would only cause him more issues than benefits so he decided to avoid getting a new sword.

After that he wandered around the village. It was interesting to see all of the old buildings. There were a few shops he didn't recognize that must have closed down before he ever got to them, and even more shops that simply didn't exist yet. He had stopped and stared at the simple thread store that stood where Ichiraku's Ramen should have been. His heart had given a little lurch, so he had moved on fairly quickly from that area.

Kakashi glanced at the sun. The school should be getting out in another hour or so. Just enough time to visit the Memorial Stone.

The walk there was calm. Bird was right when he said the weather was nice. It was early spring, which meant cool breezes and the taste of rain on the air even though the sky was clear. It had been a long time since he had felt this kind of peace.

When the Memorial Stone came into view Kakashi allowed his henge to drop. He walked over until he was just a few inches away from its surface and sat down in front of it. The small stone he had left before was still there and he picked it up in order to run his fingers over it.

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed in the back of his throat. He was so used to talking when he visited. It was a type of comfort to himself, and if his loved ones really were listening then he wanted to keep them up to date. But he could sense Bird near the tree line, his restless energy making it less of a challenge than it should have been (he would have to invite him out more often, to help him get used to it. He would hate for an enemy to find because he was too excitable).

There was only one person he could talk to right now anyway. He still wasn't entirely sure how all of the time traveling worked but he was pretty sure that no matter what he said it would never reach the ears of those he had left behind.

The clearing seemed very lonely all of the sudden.

"The house is exactly the same," he shot out, desperate to force his mind away from darker thoughts. "I didn't actually think I would remember too much about it but when I was walking around with Gai it was like I had never left. Like you had never left." He ducked his head to look at the stone in his hands. "I wish I could have saved you, too. It just… wouldn't go back that far. I've made my peace, and its easier now, but I still wish you had been given a second chance too. If anyone deserved it, it was you."

Kakashi sighed, the wind ruffling his hair as it passed. If he closed his eye he could imagine it was a hand, large and scarred but so very warm.

"I'll do my best. And when we finally meet up again I'll have a lot of stories to tell. You'll have to tell me yours too. We didn't talk much, did we? At least, not like I wish we had."

A few minutes passed in a comfortable silence. Kakashi moved the stone from one hand to the other before delicately placing it back where it belonged.

"I have to get going, but I'll come back." He stood up and brushed off the dirt from his pants. He gave the Memorial Stone a warm smile. "See you soon Dad."

This had been a good choice. The knot in his chest had unraveled some, and he felt more prepared to face his friends. It was always the affect the Memorial Stone had given him. It made him feel less alone. Giving one last smile he turned towards the direction of the Academy.

He froze when he realized someone was waiting at the edge of the tree line that was decidedly not Bird, but relaxed when he recognized the overabundance of bright green.

"Gai!" he greeted in surprise, raising a hand in greeting. "What are you doing here? I thought you had class?"

Gai refused to look at him, gaze focused determinedly on the ground where he was shuffling his feet. He was mostly hidden by one of the large trees lining the edges of the clearing and didn't look like he was planning on moving any time soon. "We got out early today," he mumbled half-heartedly.

Kakashi's brow furrowed in concern at the odd behavior. "Gai? Are you alright?"

At first there was no reply, but Kakashi was just able to pick up the change in Gai's breathing as it grew more and more unsteady.

"…Gai?" he took a worried step closer.

"D-don' look at meee," his friend suddenly sobbed, hiding himself even further behind the tree.

"W-what?" Kakashi was growing more alarmed. "Why? What's wrong?"

All he got in response was another sob. Rushing over to the tree Kakashi grabbed Gai's shoulder as he fell to his knees. Gai was scrubbing at his face furiously, but it was the bandages wrapped tightly around his head that drew Kakashi's attention.

"Your hurt," Kakashi frowned. "What happened?"

Gai looked up at him, revealing another bandage across his cheek and wrappings along his fingers. His eyes were puffy and his nose runny. "I-I can't be like my d-dad!"

Kakashi schooled his face so he didn't show his bewilderment. Gai looked like he was on the edge of a mental breakdown and he was reminded again of how young his friend was right now.

"Hey," he said softly, nudging Gai to regain his attention. "Take a deep breath okay? I won't be able to understand you unless you calm down first. Here."

Kakashi helped Gai sit down properly, his back leaning against the tree. He sat down besides him and waited for the other boy to get ahold of himself.

"Better?" Kakashi asked after a few moments.

Gai was still sniffling but he wasn't crying out anymore. He gave a firm nod to show he had calmed down.

"Good. Now, do you want to tell me what happened? From the beginning."

Gai took a few more deep breaths, glancing at Kakashi from the corner of his eye to make sure there was no judgment for his tears. Kakashi gave him his full attention.

"W-we got out early today," Gai repeated his earlier statement, one hand rising to rub at his eyes again. "A-and I was waiting for Dad, like usual. We w-were going to train together again. But there were these t-two ninjas that were making fun of him yesterday, c-calling him w-weak a-an-," his words were getting choppy, his breathing picking up again. Kakashi patted his shoulder consolingly and he tried to calm down again. "T-they were mean to him. An' they were passing by the school, j-jus' laughing. It made me so… so mad!" His fists were clenched, eyes narrowed angrily. "S-so I threw a rock at them, an' told them to- to leave him alone! And they- they-!"

Kakashi could see where this was going.

"You stood up for him," he pointed out and Gai nodded his head furiously. Gai would stand up for a mouse, it wasn't surprising. What was surprising was how hard he was taking this.

"B-but Dad wasn't happy!" Gai cried. "I-I jus' wanted him to be happy but he was so sad! He- he said I should use my youth to protect those important to me, and I did! But he was still so sad!"

Gai burst into another fit of tears, curling over his knees so Kakashi couldn't see him.

"Gai," Kakashi sighed. He had forgotten how insecure his friend had been when they were younger. At the time he hadn't really cared about Gai's personal life, so any signs of something wrong he just brushed to the side, but Gai had been fairly fragile as a child. He was weaker than the other students in ninjitsu and genjutsu, just like Lee was, and his father was often mocked for never being able to make it past Genin level.

"He was so d-disappointed in me," Gai whispered heartbrokenly into his knees. "A-all I wanted to do was protect him!"

Kakashi edged closer to him so that he could fling an arm over his shoulders. It was odd, being the one to comfort someone, but Gai deserved his best efforts.

"I don't think he was disappointed in you Gai," Kakashi disagreed. "I think he was sad to see you hurt."

Gai peered over his arm at him, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.

"It's hard to see the people you love hurt. He wants to protect you as much as you want to protect him, and he is probably sad that you felt like you had to protect him in Konoha of all places."

Gai seemed to think about that for a second before burying his face in his arms again. Kakashi scratched at the back of his neck with his free hand. He never was very good at this kind of thing and he no longer had the connection with his friend that let him comfort him without words.

"I don't think you were wrong to defend him," Kakashi tried again. "Even though Konoha is a great place, the people in it aren't always so kind or understanding." Which was the saddest thing about his home, he thought. "And standing up for what is right is always the right choice. But your dad loves you and Konoha with all of his heart, right?"

Gai nodded vigorously in response, now leaning against Kakashi's side heavily. Kakashi felt uncomfortable with such close contact, even if it was Gai, but he wasn't about to move away.

"Well, protecting and loving Konoha includes those ninja that made fun of him too," Kakashi tried to explain. His mind flashed back to the villagers of Naruto's time. It had been so hard to care about them with the way they had treated his student, and anyone that was different enough to scare them. There had always been a bit of a disconnect with his love for the village and its people, but the more he came to understand people through his students the easier it was. He still cared far less about the citizens of Konoha than he should, probably, but he wasn't like Naruto or Sakura. He had always related to Sasuke more in that regard. "It isn't easy caring about people who could care less about you and those you love. I think your Dad is stronger than a lot of people because he does."

That certainly got Gai's attention. The small boy lifted his head, a small light of hope in his eyes.

Maybe he just needed someone to believe in his Dad as much as he did.

"My Dad was the same, you know," Kakashi shared and Gai's eyes widened. Sakumo was never a topic he willingly brought up. "He cared, a lot. More than anyone ever realizes. I think that's why he got along so well with your dad. He cared so much, and got nothing in return. Not even from me."

Kakashi let his gaze slide over to the Memorial Stone as he spoke. It was easier to admit, after so long. It still hurt, but not enough to strangle the words from his throat like it had in the past.

"But your dad has you, and I think that's all he really wants. So when he saw you get hurt for him it probably scared him." He refocused on Gai, who still had tears flowing freely but was listening raptly. "He wasn't disappointed Gai. He just loves you more than anything else in the world. Even Konoha."

Gai stared at him wordlessly for a long, still moment and Kakashi wondered if he was helping _at all_, when Gai's face crumpled and he threw his arms around his waist. Kakashi stared down at him with mild discomfort as the other boy sobbed into his chest. It was probably normal for five-year-olds to cry this much, right?

"There, there," Kakashi spoke stiltedly, patting his friend's back uncertainly.

They sat there for at least fifteen minutes, Gai's tears soaking through his shirt at an alarming rate, before he began to calm down again.

"S-sorry," Gai sniffled, looking at the tearstains sheepishly.

"It's fine," Kakashi waved away his concerns, relieved when Gai let him go in order to sit up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Gai now looked embarrassed at having broken down so easily in front of his rival. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Kakashi replied easily, and he meant it. "You want to go find your dad?"

Gai thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Yeah. I ran away so he might be worried."

"Probably," he agreed, pushing himself onto his feet and holding out his hand. Gai grabbed to proffered hand to pull himself up. "Want me to go with you?"

The tightened grip on his hand was answer enough. Kakashi tried his level best not to pull his hand away. Thankfully Gai let go as soon as he was steady enough and Kakashi stuffed both of his hands into his pockets.

"Is your eye getting better?" Gai asked rather suddenly as they began walking. He still seemed embarrassed about crying, so he was probably trying to change to subject.

Kakashi blinked at him questioningly. "My eye?"

Gai gestured at his face. "The one you hurt! You can't forget that!"

"Oh," Kakashi scratched lightly at the edge of the bandages. It had been so long since someone had actually asked about his eye that he had completely forgotten that this was technically a new development. "Mah, it's probably fine."

"What do you mean probably? Haven't you looked at it?!"

Kakashi shrugged lazily, not bothering to answer.

Gai's face was turning red again, though thankfully without the tears this time.

Things were getting back to normal.

-00-

"You idiot!" Dai sobbed, wrapping Gai into a tight hug. This, of course, sent Gai into another fit of hysterics that looked like it might last longer than the last one.

Why they had to do this in the middle of the village was anyone's best guess, but at least the crowd was helping him escape before either of the two remembered he was there. Gai would be fine on his own now, and Dai looked like he would benefit from some father/son bonding time too so it was best to take his leave.

"Careful there," a voice suddenly sounded from above him. He felt his stomach flip as his muscles froze. "You really shouldn't walk backwards in such a crowded place, you might run in to someone."

There was an awkward silence where Kakashi steadfastly refused to turn around because _he was not ready for this_!

"Hey," the voice called again, eerily reminiscent of how he had been talking to Gai just moments ago. "Are you alright?"

Bright yellow filled his vision as the person moved to kneel down in front of him.

Minato's bright blue eyes locked on to the bandage around his face for a short moment before he gave Kakashi a comforting smile.

"Are you lost?"

Kakashi's hands shook at his sides. He tried to control his breathing but it was getting more and more difficult. Minato's smile fell completely, his concern growing as the child before him began to shake.

There was a loud crashing sound a few feet away, drawing everyone's attention. A pottery stall across the street now had a large broken jar in front of it, the store owner yelling angrily for whoever broke it to show themselves. Minato's eyes had shot towards the noise, but he was more concerned about the boy. Yet when he turned his attention back he was shocked to realize he was gone. He stood up, looking around quickly, but there was no sign of the child.

On the roof of a building a few blocks away Bird slowly lowered Kakashi back onto the ground. He wasn't sure what had spooked the kid so badly but he was pretty sure this was one of the things Panther wanted him to look out for so he got him out of the situation as quickly as he could.

"…You okay?" He questioned slowly.

Kakashi blinked slowly at him, his expression swiftly turning bored. He stretched his arms above his head and let out a long yawn.

"I think I'm done shopping for the day. I'm ready to go back to Headquarters."

Bird tilted his head, confused. The kid seemed fine now. In fact, if he hadn't seen what had happened with the blond man he might not have even realized something was amiss. Still though, he wasn't one to pry and he had no idea how to handle children. Maybe he was just tired.

Bird would let it slide. For now.

"…Alright. Lets head back then."

Kakashi wasted no time in hopping from the roof, his arms hanging loosely by his sides.

He definitely was not ready to face Minato. The memories of him were still too strong, even after all these years. It didn't help that the first thing he thought of when he saw those achingly familiar eyes was the last smile on Naruto's face before he left.

He shook his head violently, forcing his thoughts away. He really needed to get more done, but he didn't think he could. Not today.

'_Tomorrow,'_ he thought resolutely. _'After the team training I'll try again tomorrow.'_

When they got back to the base he separated from Bird quickly and locked himself in his room. It took two hours for his hands to stop shaking. Even longer for the memories to fade away to the back of his mind.

In the end he couldn't tell what hurt most. Seeing Minato or, for a split second, thinking it had been Naruto.

**Done! I feel kind of iffy about the ending, but I've rewritten it about four times now and I just can't think of a way to end it better to save my life. It turned out alright, I suppose.**

**I know I keep focusing on Gai in these chapters instead of the rest of the cast, but I can't help it! He's such a cute kiddo! And Kakashi really needs to be around him to stay sane right now, in my opinion. For any of you who have not read or seen this part yet the moment Gai was talking about is shown in chapter 668 (I'm not sure on the episode). It also tells you about the fate of Dai and some other stuff so if you haven't read it yet beware of spoilers if you get curious.**

**Bird is a canon character. He shows up a few times and I'm not actually sure about how he dies. The last time I remember seeing him was during Pain's (Pein? Anyone know the correct spelling for him? I keep getting varied answers.) attack. Minato only had a small part this chapter but, well, Panther is definitely going to learn about their interaction. Think back to how Kakashi acted around him, then think about what Panther will gather from that. Uh-oh. Run Minato, run!**

**Just to give you guys a kind of timeline there will be a pretty sizeable time skip montage type thing right after Kakashi goes on his first minor mission which will happen soon. Maybe in the next chapter.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	9. Chapter 9: Anbu vs Wildlife

**Wolfkun: I don't think Hiruzen would cross Kushina, he's crazy but not stupid. Which means no touching Minato! And Bee can be quite terrifying, in many ways. Thank you so much for reviewing!**

**Yamon: Ask and you shall receive! (At a much later date than you wanted but delivered nonetheless!) Thanks for taking the time out of your day to review! It means a lot!**

**RamenKnight: Thanks for reviewing! Glad the humor tickles your funny bone, haha.**

**Shadowed Sorceress: Aww, thanks! I'm glad you like it so much, and you reviewing even once is more than enough for me! Wait not longer! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Guest: Glad you like him! Thanks for taking the time to review, it really does mean a lot to me!**

**Guest: He is not ready at all. Not even a little! But life has no cares to give right now, so he'll have to find a way to manage I'm afraid. Here is more! Thank you for going out of your way to review!**

**murksiuke: Thank you so much! And thank you for reviewing, it made me cheer!**

**bleedingangel95: D'awwww, Koumori is adorable! And he is not alone! I think everyone has had a crush on Iruka at some point. Even Sasuke (although I'm mainly basing that on the fact that he was never mean or rude to Iruka, which is saying a lot for the duckling). There are honestly very few people I am planning on killing off in this story (all the sadness and horribly depressing angst is saved mostly for flashbacks) so Koumori will be around for quiet a while. I will have to mention how he died in the future (because dear lord, every body dies) but if you have no preference I'm sure I can think of something reasonably heart breaking. Thank you for all the information! It definitely helps! And thanks for reviewing again! **

**tabjoy13: If Bird wasn't a running joke before, he totally is now. He is literally everywhere and he really does not want to be. There is a reason he lost all of his anxiety and nerves over the years. I'm glad you enjoyed it! *****tosses a tissue* I love Minato! He deserves happiness! More feels to come! Thank you for reviewing!**

**Ambassador666: He's just never going to get a break, is he? It took a while for him to come to terms with the fact that going back to save everyone meant losing the few people he had left. Poor Kakashi :'(. Thank you for taking the time to review!**

**dazai-san: You just made me realize I haven't been doing my end of the chapter choices! Although I didn't think anyone really read those, so your question is not dumb! It makes me happy! Hmmm, there's so many good songs it's hard to choose. For the upcoming montage I'd debate between two. "The Phoenix" by Fall Out Boy as one for how hard he will be working to get his strength up to par and how carefully he starts to lay out his plans. It's a good fight song and the lyrics match him pretty spot on right now. On a different note, "S.O.B." by Nathaniel Rateliff sums up his feelings about how things are going to a T. He just wants things to go according to plan for Kami's sake! Haha, those are my thoughts on that at least. Let me know what you would choose too! Thanks for reviewing!**

**Shadows Curse: Haha, I hope it's a whole lot of happy! Maybe this one does the same thing? Thanks for telling me! Do you have any idea how happy your review made me?! So happy! Thank you!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 9: Anbu Vs. Wildlife**

**-00-**

"Hmm," the Third Hokage stroked at his beard as he processed the news. Panther stood in front of his desk stoically, arm crossed over her chest in salute. "Have you brought this up with Kakashi-kun yet?"

Panther shook her head. _"That was my next destination. I do not believe Namikaze has the skill to pull off a seal of that caliber, not yet at least, but Hatake's reaction to him was marked as abnormal and the physical motions he gave would indicate fear."_

"I see," he nodded, folding his arms across his chest. "And you are sure of everything that happened? The Anbu following him was Bird wasn't it? He is still quiet new."

Panther tilted her head, making him laugh.

"I don't mean to criticize your choices Panther, if you chose him as Kakashi-kun's guard then his abilities must be adequate. I just wanted to make sure," the lines around his eyes folded as he smiled.

There was a small huff of air behind her mask before her hands moved. _"Bird may be new but he was at the top of my list of recruits and I was the one to cover his security check. He knows what he saw, just not the implications."_

Hiruzen let the still air of his office hang between them for a few moments, index finger tapping absentmindedly against the crook of his elbow.

"…I suppose it isn't all that surprising," he muttered to himself, brow furrowed.

Panther settled back on her heels, waiting for his thoughts to come together. It was a familiar waiting game. When she had been much younger the waiting had driven her mad but she had grown used to it after so many years.

"Alright," Hiruzen leaned forward suddenly, hands entwined under his chin. "Starting one week from today Kakashi-kun will be meeting with Minato every other day, for two hours, for chakra manipulation training."

And as if everything had settled exactly where it should, he picked up his pen and began scanning over the document he had originally put down when she had first entered.

Panther's lips thinned behind her mask, pressing back against her teeth. It was one thing to wait for him to come up with a plan of action. It was another matter all together to understand how the _hell_ he had gotten there.

_"Namikaze might be involved in the incident."_ She repeated her opening statement mechanically.

Hiruzen barely looked up to catch the movement. "Yes, you said that."

Inhale. Hold. Exhale.

"_There is no solid evidence that he is not involved."_

"He has yet to be cleared," Hiruzen nodded along, signing the paper with a small flourish of his wrist and grabbing the next one.

"_Hatake is not to be brought near any civilian, noble, or clan member for an extended amount of time until they have been cleared by you or myself. Those were your exact orders."_

"Which is why I gave you a week in advance to finish that up for Minato-kun. Plenty of time," he tapped his pen along the side of the desk as his eyes steadily scanned over the next page.

There was a deep, heavy silence.

_"Permission to speak freely."_

Now Hiruzen looked up in interest. "Panther, you know you do not need to ask to speak freely here. Is something wrong?"

Panther's hands clenched before relaxing enough for her to sign. _"Why, exactly, is Hatake required to meet with Namikaze when I gave you specific reasons as to why the two should be kept separate? As of this exact moment,"_ she snapped her fingers to emphasize, _"Namikaze is one of the most suspicious individuals on our list because Hatake, the victim, recognized and feared him. It would not be wise to put them together."_

"Well, I suppose it would seem that way," Hiruzen conceded, tapping his pen on the side of the desk. "But I don't think Minato-kun being his kidnapper is why Kakashi-kun was so upset."

Panther shifted on the balls of her feet.

Hiruzen grinned at her. "Calm down, I have thought this through. Minato-kun was supposed to be Kakashi-kun's teacher after he graduated from the Academy. Kakashi-kun knew this and, well, he was rather excited. Minato-kun also knew he was getting a student, but I didn't tell him who yet."

Panther's stance screamed unimpressed. _"You told the student and not the teacher? That is not like you."_

He folded his hands in front of him, the pen kept loosely between his thumbs. "This was not a normal situation. Not only was Kakashi-kun going to be the earliest graduate we have ever had but he was, and is, under a large amount of mental and emotional stress. I needed someone he felt he could open up to, but I didn't want to get Minato-kun's hopes up if it wasn't him."

_'Softy,'_ Panther thought tiredly, but she couldn't help the fondness that followed. He always had a soft spot for children.

_"How does that explain his reaction? Would he not be excited to meet Namikaze then? Or nervous. Not fear."_

"Any other child would," he agreed, "but Kakashi-kun is different. With what happened to his father, any show of weakness is one looked on in shame. With how much he idolized Minato-kun, I'm sure his current state of affairs made him worried about what the man would think of him."

She… guessed that made sense. She could not see how a kid like Hatake came to idolize a man like Namikaze (for all of the man's intelligence and skill, he was a walking toddler) but it would be rather hypocritical of her to disbelieve such a thing was possible. Her idol had always been an insane vigilante minded fool, so she had no room to judge. The issues with Sakumo also made sense. Watching your own father be shamed for every foreseeable weakness and fault until he could not take it any longer would scar anyone, let alone a kid.

Pairing them up might not be a bad idea, if that were true. The security check would still need to be done before hand, and very thoroughly seeing as how they would be together often, but she could see the benefits.

Namikaze would never judge Hatake for any show of weakness, and would welcome the boy with open arms. Anbu broke a person down in a million and one ways, but it also made them stronger in ways nothing else could. They did what _needed_ to be done, but they were not cruel. If things kept going the way they were Hatake could fall down into a very dark, cold place and there was almost no coming back from that. Anbu would keep him strong, and Namikaze could keep him human.

Because no matter what happens, or how, or by whom, or why, that was all they were.

_"You are still hiding something,"_ she narrowed her eyes at him.

"I usually am," he smiled amenably.

_"Fine. I will allow it, only if Namikaze passes my check. However, Hatake is under my command now, and is a part of my personal team. I will have a few ground rules of my own."_

He could refuse her, of course. And she would follow his orders no matter what, but she knew he wouldn't.

Hiruzen grinned brightly. "Panther, I did not expect you to care about him so quickly!"

Her middle finger twitched tellingly when she shifted back to a formal salute, causing his smile to grow.

"_That is all to report for now."_

"Thank you Panther," Hiruzen tipped his hat towards her in a show of respect.

She wasn't fooled.

"Oh!" he raised a hand to stop her before she could disappear. "Before you go. Biwako has been wondering where you've been lately. She wanted to know if you would join the family for dinner tonight."

Panther stared at him blankly from behind her mask.

Hiruzen _pouted_ at her, making her eyebrow twitch. "You have not visited in months! She worries, you know. Asuma and Kohana have a new game they want to play as well."

"_I am busy."_

"As am I," he waved his hand over the stacks of paper over his desk. "And yet, I still find time to have dinner with my family every once in awhile." He glared at her when she lifted her hands to reply. "And if you say 'I have no family' one more time I am letting Kohana loose in your office. Invite Bear if you must, just show up! No later than 7!"

She dropped her shoulders slightly, the left hanging lower than the right.

Hiruzen blinked. "Really? You're giving up that easily?"

Both of her shoulders drew back.

"No, no," he hastened to assure her. "I'm not complaining. You must be more stressed than usual. I'll let Biwako know to make your favorites."

"_That is not necessary." _Panther sighed.

"Of course it is. You need to learn to relax more! Otherwise I would feel guilty for giving you more of these."

This time, when Hiruzen half stood and leaned across the desk to place a sizeable stack of papers in her hands, both of her middle fingers did more than twitch. He laughed as she disappeared in a graceful swirl of leaves.

-00-

In Kakashi's fairly knowledgeable opinion, Anbu had always been at least a little weird. Odd eating habits were to be expected, odd sleeping habits even more so, and if the occasional fight or small war broke out it was brushed off as stress relief. He was even familiar with the occasional prank war, though most of his old comrades avoided targeting him after he almost killed Falcon (which he did feel guilty about later on, but there was nothing to be done about that now). Back then he hadn't really been one for tricks, or surprises in general really.

When Bear had been General (and was 'had' even the right tense, considering that was the future? Those kinds of questions always made his heart head start to ache) the man had encouraged his fellow Anbu to take downtime whenever they could and however they could. There had even been a new kind of competition held at Training Ground Zero every month, with his baked goods as prizes. Kakashi had never participated (though even his young, anger-induced mind had been greatly tempted to at least try) but they seemed fun enough for the others, even with that time where all the oversized bees got loose and tried to turn the base into their new hive.

Either way, hobbies were encouraged and provided for, which made for some interesting things to be found whenever someone would walk into a room.

Under Panther's leadership, Kakashi expected at least a bit more constraint. She seemed like a 'no-nonsense' type of leader, so while he doubted she would deny them their time off he couldn't really see her encouraging it too much either. So, clearly, the weirdness of his future Anbu would be considerably less in the past, right?

Then how was it, exactly, that _this_ was one of the most surprising things he had ever seen in this building?

"…almost…got it!" Bee grunted, a spear held tightly in her hands with the end wedged between the teeth of a large wolf.

Badger, whose head was inside the wolf's mouth, was grasping its top and bottom jaw, straining his muscles to avoid both being eaten and being stabbed by the spear point Bee was using to help him.

"Getitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoffgetitoff!" the continuous mantra was muffled, but the panic in his voice was clear.

"Turtle!" Bee called over he shoulder, visibly straining. Killing the thing would have been easy if not for the risk of decapitating the Anbu it was using as a chew toy. "Need a little help here!"

"…Can't," came the tired reply. A few paces behind the duo Turtle was hanging upside down from the ceiling in some kind of webbed cocoon. She half heartedly tried to untangle herself, only making it worse for herself as well as the three other Anbu tangled with her (who were trying much harder, thank you very much. Every time they almost broke free Turtle would move _just so_ and leave them all more entangled than ever. She was doing it on purpose, they swear!).

Rabbit passed by underneath them, wrestling an overgrown spider (that was at least twice Kakashi's size, he noted nervously) that was attempting to use its large fangs to tear into her face.

"Butterfly, get down from there!" she lectured, holding the spider back with one hand and punching it rapidly with the other. Its skin must have been abnormally tough because it didn't even flinch.

Butterfly glanced down at her from his place on the wall close to the ceiling. He was looking over the web like structure, attempting to find a way through that wouldn't lead to him getting stuck as well.

"I can't. The things ambushed Crane and dragged him up to the top."

"What?!"

There was a small explosion in the corner and Chameleon suddenly sprinted out of the kitchen area, cursing and patting at her clothes, which were now on fire.

Hawk rolled out after her, slightly singed, and let out a heavy sigh. "Well, that is certainly one way to do it. When you said 'smoke them out' I didn't think you meant it quite so literally."

"Shut it," Chameleon snapped, patting out the last small ember right as another spider lunged onto her back. "Aghhhh!"

Hawk shook his head before moving to help her.

"Got one!" Bird popped out of a pile of dead spider bodies, dragging a fallen wolf with him. He tugged it over to Tiger, who was picking at the corpses of spiders and wolves alike. "Is this one big enough?"

Tiger looked it up and down before nodding. "That should do it. Grab a few spider legs for me too. From the big ones, the little ones are too brittle."

Bird slumped, glancing at the rest of the room. "Shouldn't we get rid of all these and help out first?"

Tiger slapped one of the living wolves away from her off handedly as she looked at the fangs of a dead wolf at the same time. "They've got this. Do you want better armor or not?"

"…Alright."

Kakashi pinched the skin just above his wrist, just to be sure, before taking a careful step back and grabbing ahold of the door. If he could just close it without anyone (or anything) noticing he could go back to his room and pretend like nothing was wrong.

Something latched onto his sandal, less than an inch from the tips of his toes.

A young wolf pup growled pathetically at him as it tried to rip apart his shoe. What was probably its mother was stalking towards them, far larger than any wolf had any right to be, in his opinion, with teeth barred in a snarl.

"Ah! Kakashi-kun!" Rabbit caught sight of him, the spider holding her in an unnatural looking headlock (could spiders even do that?) "Don't play with the pups!"

He leveled her with a deadpan stare as he shook the pup off and nudged it towards its mother. The only five-year-old he new that would play with a wild wolf was Naruto.

…And probably Gai.

The wolf mother had stopped growling at him, head tilted curiously as he pushed the pup closer towards her. It looked at the pup, which was all black except for a tuft of white sticking straight up on its head, then back at him. Or more specifically, back at his hair.

"Uh," Kakashi stared as it bent down to pick up the pup before nudging him and curling around him protectively.

"D'awww," Bee cooed, "it thinks you're a baby!"

"Bee!" Badger's muffled voice cried as her inattention made the spear head tilt uncomfortably close to his face.

"Ask it to leave," Turtle yawned, moving her elbow up and to the side. There was a cry of outrage as the web tightened.

"I don't think that's how this works," Rabbit muttered, attempting to move closer to Kakashi in case the wolf changed its mind.

Kakashi absentmindedly ran a hand over the mother wolf's coat. Weirder things had happened (this situation overall, for example).

"…Would you mind leaving?" he asked the wolf as her pup continued attempting to maul his sandals.

She stared at him intensely with sharp grey eyes. After a moment she lifted her head and howled shortly. The remaining wolves froze before following her when she moved to jump out the open window at the far end of the room with the pup dangling from her teeth. The spiders, after realizing their main support in their attack was leaving, also began to retreat (but not before the one attempting to strangle Rabbit flipped her onto the floor in a way that eerily resembled the way the Academy taught new students).

The wolf holding Badger was the last to leave, very reluctantly unclenching its jaw. The moment Badger was free it snapped out and grabbed the spear, managing to wrestle it from Bee's startled hands and flee.

"Hey!" Bee shouted, running after it. "That's my favorite spear you flea bitten mutt! Turtle! After them!"

"…Kay."

Turtle twisted slightly to the left, easily slipping free from the webbing. Unfortunately, this also tightened its hold over everyone else.

"For the love of-!"

"Fuck you!"

"Nooooo-"

"Screw you Turtle!"

The lanky woman waved her hand at them as she ambled away.

Bird scratched the back of his head and, with a heavy sigh, moved to start helping his trapped comrades.

The door a little ways down from where Kakashi was slid open and Bear stepped in. The second he took in the scene of destruction he tried to angle his body to block the door entirely but he was a second too late.

Panther slipped past him, feet stopping the moment she saw them.

The rapid change from loud chaos to horrified silence left the air ringing in a way that was almost painful.

A smoke bomb went off right next to the General, snapping them all back to attention.

"Scatter!" Badger choked out, scrambling for the door. Kakashi ducked out of the way as Hawk and Chameleon joined in his mad rush for the door. Rabbit spared a hesitant glance up to the members trapped in the web before she leapt out the window her eight legged attacker had escaped out of, Bird right behind her. Tiger didn't even bother opening the window closest to her, choosing to smash straight through it and keep running.

Panther's hand shot out, the palm of her hand slicing through the smoke. She must have done something with her chakra because the smoke immediately flew outward and dispersed until none remained in matter of seconds.

Kakashi remained where he was. Running would be an admission of guilt to something he had no part in starting and apparently every part in fixing, so he doubted he would get in any trouble. Still, there was something seeping through the air that made him shift defensively upon the balls of his feet. It wasn't quite murderous intent, but it still sent a chill up his spine.

Panther trailed slowly over to the webbing, the poor Anbu held by it staring at her fearfully. When she began to lift her hands as though to start signing they suddenly renewed their struggle to be free.

"W-wait, we can free ourselves!"

"She's right, just give us a few more seconds!"

"Please Panther, y-you really don't need to-!"

There was a loud ripping sound from the top of the cocoon. Panther paused as Butterfly suddenly leapt out of the top, Crane dangling over one shoulder while his other hand remained occupied with a short blade. The two landed in a heap in front of her, Butterfly cursing angrily and Crane groaning dizzily.

Panther tapped her foot sharply against the floor, making them jump.

"Taicho!" Butterfly saluted her immediately.

Crane attempted to salute as well but he couldn't quite push himself up far enough off the ground and his words sounded more like gibberish than a greeting.

"_I had this cafeteria renovated three months ago, at all of your requests,"_ she signed slowly, letting the destruction speak for itself.

"It was Badger's fault," Butterfly rushed to explain. "He brought a wolf pup in from the woods and its pack followed it. When the spiders saw them start to attack they joined in."

Panther let out a low sigh, but she didn't seem overly surprised.

"_The spiders have been looking for a weak point for weeks. That still does not explain this level of destruction."_

Kakashi couldn't quite help the bewildered expression that appeared on his face. He had only ever seen spiders of that size in the Training Ground 44. Were highly intelligent arachnids common at this point in time? He didn't recall anything like that.

"Bee got back from her mission early and Chameleon was bored," Butterfly explained, and stopped there as though that explained it all.

Which, apparently, it did. The tension in the air dissipated as Panther pulled a small, thin blade from her pouch.

"_Send Bee, Badger, and Chameleon to my office when they return. Crane, you will have an extended hour of training tomorrow to go over how to successfully avoid being poisoned. Hatake,"_ she turned her head to look at him, making him straighten his back, _"go to my office and wait for me. We have something to discuss."_

He didn't need to be told twice. Turning on his heel he started to leave. Hopefully Panther would let him grab a few snacks before their training session since he was now skipping out on lunch.

"Want help cutting them down?" Bear asked from his position at the door.

"_I'm not cutting them down."_

She walked forward and placed the flat of her blade against a piece of webbing attached to the wall.

"Wait, Taicho, don't-!"

Kakashi didn't see what happened after that, but the way the air suddenly filled with static making every hair stand straight, and the smell of something burning told him more than he wanted to know.

Hopefully it was a low voltage.

-00-

It didn't take long for Panther to show up. Kakashi was sitting in front of her door going through his hand signs again when she showed up with two plates in hand. Once he had stood up she offered one of the plates and, after he had taken it with a raised eyebrow, place her hand on the wooden surface of the door.

There was a clicking sound and it swung open, letting them inside.

"Is this for me?" Kakashi wondered, examining the delicious looking dumplings laid out to look like a smiley face.

_"Bear realized you would be missing lunch," _she explained as she set her plate on her desk and motioned for him to sit down. Kakashi noticed there was only a few stacks of paper work this time, enough to all be fit onto one half of her desk. "_There are a few things I would like to go over with you now that you have started settling in."_

"Okay," Kakashi agreed easily, popping one of the dumplings in his mouth (heavenly delicious, as always). Bear had done the same check up when he had joined the first time around. Kakashi had thought it was simply because the older man worried too much, but if Panther did the same thing with new recruits then there must be a different reason.

_"Firstly, I have noticed that you have not spoken with any of your teammates since the training. Is there a reason for this?"_

She didn't seem to upset about it, so he answered honestly.

"I think watching them scramble around to try to find me is funny. I was going to try talking to them more after our next training session together."

Panther tapped her long index fingers together thoughtfully. Luckily, five-year-old kids could get away with a lot of crap, even if they were ninjas. _"That will be fine for now. Tiger mentioned an incident with your eye when you were getting your armor."_

He was wondering when she was going to bring that up. "The seal was hurting," he shrugged nonchalantly. "It gave me a headache, but it hasn't hurt since."

_"The Hokage has set up a medical check up two days from now. You are required to go,"_ she added upon noticing his sour expression. _"Explain what happened to them when you go. Which Anbu members have you met and conversed with so far?"_

Was she… asking if he had made any friends? Maybe her and Bear were more alike than he had thought.

"Turtle and… Bee talk to me a lot. They are usually the ones to take me outside. I only talked to Tiger when I was getting my armor, and Bird when he took me out yesterday."

Panther leaned forward slightly, something in the set of her shoulders making Kakashi pause in eating his next dumpling.

_"Bird mentioned you had an unusual reaction when approached by a man named Namikaze Minato while you were out."_

Kakashi grimaced. Of course she knew about that. He hadn't meant to put Minato on her watch list, but he could see what she must be thinking.

"I've heard about him before," he muttered, flicking his dumplings around his plate. "He is an impressive ninja and he knew my dad. I thought…"

Crap. Where was he supposed to go with this?

Movement from Panther caught his eye, making him look up.

_"The Hokage told me that he was supposed to be your teacher when you graduated."_

He did?

"He did?" Kakashi frowned.

Panther leaned back in her chair. _"Yes. I understand that you had been rather… enthusiastic about the prospect."_

"He is the greatest teacher I could ask for," Kakashi replied solemnly.

Panther stared him down from over her desk, allowing him a few moments to his thoughts. He took the chance to eat two more dumplings.

_"There may be a chance,"_ she signed slowly, as thought hesitant to bring it up, _"that he could still be your teacher."_

Kakashi choked. Thumping a fist against his chest and swallowing forcefully he stared up at her in shock.

"What?"

_"You have a lot to learn, and not all of it can be taught here. You need a teacher not connected to Anbu and Namikaze is the best candidate so far. I can think of a few others but you seem to already have some kind of connection to him. He will, of course, have to go through a security check, but if all goes well you would start chakra manipulation lessons with him in about a week."_

"Uh," Kakashi shook his head. How had this happened exactly? "I thought you and Bear were going to teach me that?"

_"We could,"_ she conceded. _"But that is not all he will teach you. You are a child… Kakashi. Anbu requires a strong body, heart, and mind. Most members already have their own mental support systems in place when they join, built through years of experience, but you do not have that yet and whatever ones you learn here will not be healthy ones. Namikaze has far greater experience with this than those of us here and he will help you learn ways to take care of yourself that Bear nor I can teach you. If you are to remain in Anbu, you need this."_

Kakashi stared at her, dumbstruck. On one hand, this was everything he could ask for. He could be Minato's student again, but this time he could be the student the man deserved. He could spend his days with his Sensei and actually enjoy them, just like it used to be. On the other hand, however, it would be just like how it used to be. He would be Minato-sensei's student, _again._ As thought nothing had changed.

Underneath the fresh layer of bandages, his eye pulsed.

_"You do not need to decide now,"_ Panther interrupted his thoughts, as thought sensing his mental conflict. _"I will need at least a few days to get everything in order, and there is a slight chance that he will be… deemed unsuitable. But you need to think about this seriously. Whether it be Namikaze or not, you will need a teacher outside of Anbu. Tomorrow you will join the team training exercise but the day of your medical checkup you will be given the rest of the day off. Take that time to think about what I have said. Child or not, I will not take this choice from you."_

Kakashi nodded numbly, his mind racing.

Panther pursed her lips behind her mask. Reaching out, she tapped his plate to get his attention.

_"You have twenty minutes until our session. Go do whatever you need to and then come back."_

He stood up slowly, grabbing his plate and leaving without another word. Once he was gone Panther steepled her fingers beneath her chin and let a heavy sigh. When did new recruits get so difficult to deal with? This was the sixth one in a row that made her hesitate in decisions. Maybe she was starting to go soft.

The dumplings at her elbow were starting to grow cold so she pushed the thoughts from her mind and raised her mask to rest on the bridge of her nose so she could eat. Hesitation aside, this was the correct path to take for now.

Tomorrow, after training, she would go to meet Namikaze herself.

-00-

**Decisions, decisions, I wonder what he'll choose? **

**And yes, I did add an incredibly intelligent ninja spider cluster. The Anbu Headquarters building is on top of one of their old nests and they have promised vengeance!**

**Also, it wasn't Badger who brought in the pup. I bet you can't guess who the real culprit is ;). **

**I hoped you guys liked this chapter! Let me know what you think!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Chapter song: (I completely forgot about this because I thought no one read it, but a lovely reviewer dazai-san reminded me and asked which song I would pick for a time skip montage. Thanks again dazai-san! This is also the same answer I gave them, so if you've already read that up above don't even worry about it.) ****For the upcoming montage I'd debate between two. "The Phoenix" by Fall Out Boy as one for how hard he will be working to get his strength up to par and how carefully he starts to lay out his plans. It's a good fight song and the lyrics match him pretty spot on right now. On a different note, "S.O.B." by Nathaniel Rateliff sums up his feelings about how things are going to a T.**


	10. Chapter 10: Battle of Wits

**This is the longest chapter I have written so far. It's 2-3 times longer than usual, and I'm pretty dang proud! Most of this chapter is the next training day with Kakashi's new team and not really from his point of view. I wanted to explore the others a bit more since I'm going to be using them pretty regularly in the next few chapters. The third person narrative changes its focus on different characters throughout the story and while it makes sense to me, it might not to you guys. If there's a point where it gets confusing please let me know and I'll come back and fix it!**

**Shadows Curse: Aw, thank you! I'm happy you like it so much! Thanks for reviewing again, it means a lot! I hope you enjoy this one too!**

**dazai-san: Yeah… they're an odd bunch to be sure. Still, I'm sure they do their jobs well! Probably. Thanks for taking the time to review again!**

**bleedingangle95: Thanks! Writing the odd moments with the Anbu is one of my favorite things! And worry not; I'll make his death suitably depressing. I've knack for it, one might say. Thanks for reviewing again friendo, I always look forward to them!**

**tabjoy13: Kurama probably couldn't care less. He's going through some things and doesn't have the energy or patience to care about all (or practically any) of Kakashi's decisions. As long as they don't affect him horribly it doesn't bother him. For now. Thanks for the input! And the review! Wonderful as always!**

**Yamon: Thanks for the input! And for taking the time to answer my question, it's very helpful.**

**WesternBird: The Anbu have always been my favorite. The air of mystery they always had drew me in (and look how wonderfully I have taken most of that from them. Oops). I'm glad you like them! Thanks so much for reviewing, and for reading this story in general!**

**Wolfkun: That would be a twist! They are pretty similar, huh? But Bee is actually an OC given to me by WingedBirdy. The parallels are definitely there though! And the Sandaime does show up in this chapter, but a little less crazy. Let me know what you think! And thanks for reviewing! **

**reddoggie: Wow, you read through everything in one day! I'm touched! Your reviews made me laugh, I'm glad you like it so much! The Sandaime doesn't have time to be old; he's got crap to do! And ask and you shall receive! This chapter focuses a lot on his interactions with his teammates. Hope you like it! Thanks for taking the time out of your day to review!**

**Shadowed Sorceress: Yay! A reviewwww~ Fluff and heartbreak is my key mission, so I shall do my absolute best! Kid Kakashi is awesome; he's such a little crap. And thanks for answering my question! The feedback helps. Thanks for reviewing!**

**TheRavenclawWitch: You read the whole thing in one go, awesome! Danzo has quite a few things coming his way. Most of them entertaining. Thank you so much for the feedback, I wasn't sure how well I did in showing off kid Gai's feelings at the time. Drama and humor are my favorite things to mix so I do it often. Sometimes too often, but meh. Thanks for reading and reviewing! Hope you like this chapter too!**

Konoha- narrative

"Konoha!"- speaking

'_Konoha'- _thinking

"_Konoha."_\- Panther signing

**Please enjoy!**

**-00-**

**Chapter 10: Battle of Wits**

**-00-**

Minato was sleeping comfortably in his bed after a long day of running around the village on a seemingly unending spree of missions when a cold feeling shot down his spine. Eyes shooting open he grabbed the kunai under his pillow and threw it at the corner of his room.

The General of Anbu tilted her head an inch to the side, allowing it to pass by her harmlessly.

"General," Minato paled slightly but did not lower his guard. "Is there something you need this time at night?"

_"I have a few questions for you,"_ she signed. He didn't bother wondering how she knew he spoke sign language. _"If you have the time."_

Minato doubted she would leave even if he said he was busy. Something about the way she was standing made it clear that she wasn't leaving any time soon.

"Oh," he glanced at the clock. 4:45am. "If this is going to take some time would you… like some tea?"

The Third Hokage had always told him that Panther was not as scary as she appeared, and he was fully prepared to call their great leader a complete liar. Thank Kami Kushina was away on a mission. He could only imagine his lovely girlfriend's reaction to the situation.

_"No. Who are your teachers in the art of sealing?"_

"Jiraiya-sensei," he answered right away. He had nothing to hide, and he knew the people he loved did not either. At least, not something that would hurt the village. "And Uzumaki Kushina. I learn mostly from scrolls written by the Uzumaki clan."

_"Uzumaki-san provides you with these scrolls,"_ Panther clarified.

He nodded.

_"What is the highest level seal you are capable of as of this moment?"_

This gave him a moment's pause. "I will happily answer your questions, as long as you can prove who you are, but may I ask why you wish to know?"

Panther did not move for a short time, staring at him sharply from behind her mask. Minato wished he had thrown a shirt on before collapsing into bed.

Reaching up, Panther pushed the grey strap of her vest down her shoulder and tugged the side of the skintight turtleneck over just enough for him to see the tattoo etched into the skin of her left shoulder. There was another tattoo, the standard Anbu swirls on the patch of skin between her shoulder and the gloves reaching up past her elbow, but the one on her shoulder was designed like a branching tree. The sign of the General.

Minato looked it over with a discerning eye, but nothing seemed wrong with it. After a moment, he nodded and she moved the strap back into place.

_"I will answer your questions after you answer mine," _she offered. She did not have to. Minato knew that she could technically kill him if she even thought he might be working against the village. It was a generous offer; one he would take gladly.

"The highest level seal I can create reliably is a B-level chakra conductor. I can sometimes recreate the seal necessary for Hirashin as well, but only with a sixty percent success rate so far."

Kushina always smacked him when he said that. Sixty percent was far bigger than zero percent, but he would not be satisfied until it was perfected. He wasn't comfortable using it in battle until he was sure he could trust in his ability to use it properly.

_"What do you plan on using your seals for?"_

"To help Konoha," he met her gaze determinedly. "To create a better future."

There was an odd whistling noise, like wind hitting a cave. Was she… sighing? Laughing?

_"Do you know a child by the name of Hatake Kakashi," _she continued before he had a chance to think on it further.

"Kakashi-kun?" A rock settled in the base of his gut. "We haven't met, actually, but I know a lot about him. I was a friend of his father's. Is he okay?"

_"He is fine. You have never seen him before?"_

Minato frowned. "I have seen him around town before, and occasionally around his father when Sakumo was… alive. But we've never interacted."

_"You bumped into him at the market a few days ago."_

Her posture didn't change but the air suddenly seemed three times heavier.

Had he run into Kakashi? There was a silver haired boy at the market, and he supposed there were not that many silver haired people in Konoha. Had that been him?

"I might have," he conceded, mulling it over. "There was a kid I had talked to that might have been him, but I didn't actually get a very good look at him. I turned away for a moment and he was gone."

The air did not lighten, and he was beginning to wonder if he should have kept that kunai in his hand so that he would have two, when Panther stepped forwards so that the light of the moon filtering through his window fell over her.

_"In three days you will go to see the Hokage. He will give you your answers. Try not to screw up."_

Minato's brow furrowed considerably, but when he blinked she was gone. He stayed were he was, unmoving, for longer than he cared to count; waiting to see if anything would happen. When nothing did he collapsed onto his back and let out a gust of air.

What just happened?

-00-

Rabbit peeked around the tree carefully. There was still a little time before training, at least forty-five minutes, and she had expected almost everyone to be at the training grounds already. Panther was always the first one there, regardless of how early anyone else came (they had tried to beat her for over a week when they first joined, then had to stop when their lack of sleep made training harder) and Butterfly was usually second. Third was tossed back and forth between Crane and herself, while Bear showed up right when training started.

Today, however, Crane was still recovering from his unfortunate poisoning and Butterfly was tasked with keeping an eye on him to make sure he was fully healed. They would probably show up around the same time as Bear, leaving only Panther and their newest member in the clearing.

Panther was, as per usual, meditating in the center, head bowed and breathing slow. Kakashi was tucked against a tree with a scroll spread out on the ground in front of him, twirling a senbon needle between his fingers. Occasionally he would look up at the sky, as though to think, or fiddle with the fresh bandages over his injured eye (Rabbit's fingers itched to get a good look at the damage. But if her healing abilities could have helped whatever it was then Panther would have already asked).

Rabbit had been trying to talk to the boy for days, wanting to at least form some sort of connection to him before their next training session, and yet every time she searched him out he was either training, somewhere in the village, or had flat out disappeared. Even Butterfly, who had been hard pressed to even try looking for the boy, found it difficult.

This spoke volumes for both his skill and his lack of trust in them. Their first meeting had obviously left a bad impression on the boy (for which she wholly blamed Crane and Butterfly) so she would have to approach him carefully.

Well, nothing was gained without trying.

Stepping out from her hiding spot, and studiously ignoring Panther's slight sigh, she approached Kakashi and sat far enough away to keep him at ease but close enough to talk.

"Hello Kakashi-kun," she started when he didn't bother to look up from his scroll. She didn't take offense. Crane often did the same thing, although usually because he was far too engrossed in whatever he was reading to bother paying attention to what she was saying.

A singular black eye glanced up at her, eyebrow raised. She couldn't tell much of his facial expression past the bandages and the mask covering the lower half of his face, but he didn't tense up. Thank goodness. She had been worried that he might have been avoiding them out of fear.

"Good morning," he replied after a minor pause. Twirling his senbon between his fingers once more he moved to roll up his scroll. "Did you want to talk about something?"

"Yes," she placed her fists over her knees and bowed her head towards him. "I wanted to apologize for when we met. I did not mean to make you feel unwelcome."

Kakashi blinked at her, eyebrow hiking up even further until it was practically hidden by the bangs of his silver hair. "…I didn't feel unwelcome."

Rabbit straightened. "We didn't treat you as an equal."

"I'm five," he gave her a blank stare. "And if you had, my plan wouldn't have worked nearly as well as it did."

She smiled behind her mask, conceding the point. "I suppose that's true. I can't guarantee I won't let your age get in the way of how we interact all the time, but I can promise to try and I will always be professional on missions."

Kakashi hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head a bit. "Sounds good to me. What do you get out of this?"

"A new teammate," she replied easily. Butterfly had asked her the same thing when they first met, as had Crane (although far less insultingly). "We're working together regardless of if we get along, and I've found that the stronger the bond with your team the better mission outcomes usually are."

Kakashi's eye crinkled, making her assume there was a smile hiding under that mask. "Well, I'd hate to be less than trash now after coming this far."

"What?" Rabbit was taken aback. Who on earth would tell this child he was less than _trash_? If it had been Butterfly she would be having words with him.

Kakashi stuck his hand out. "I don't have a mask yet, so you can just call me Kakashi."

Rabbit leaned forward happily to shake his hand in hers. Dear Kami, his hand was so _small._ "I can't tell you who I really am right now, but Rabbit works just as well."

Silence settled over the clearing again, and Rabbit was happy to let it. She gave the young boy a small wave before shuffling over to join Panther in her meditation so he could get back to his scroll. There was no need to push. The first step had been taken, and it was done so rather successfully.

Panther looked at her as she sat down, nodding her head.

The smaller woman was grateful to have her mask on to hide her grin. Making Panther proud gave her the same giddy feeling that making Biwako-sensei proud did.

It was about fifteen minutes later that the three other members showed up.

Butterfly glided in as though he owned the place, like always, with Crane trailing behind him as Bear patted his back consolingly.

"The spiders got me too, once," Bear was saying, causing Crane to unfold from his hunched position. "Just after I joined they snagged me and the two others I was rooming with at the time. Not a fun experience, but it was waaay better than when Panther came to get us. She wasn't General yet, but she was still just as scary as she is now."

Panther's breath came out in a long, low exhale but she didn't move. Bear waved at her amicably, patting Crane on the back one more time before he walked over to Kakashi.

"Morning kid!"

Kakashi stood, brushing the dirt off his black pants. "Good morning Bear."

Bear looked him up and down with a grin. "Your armor looks a little big on you."

The five-year-old narrowed his eye. Rabbit noticed that the standard Anbu armor was a little loose on him once he stood up. The straps of his vest didn't sit right, slipping down over his shoulders when he moved to fast, and there was quite a bit of extra fabric bunched around his waist that was being held by his weapons pouch. Probably to hold the legs up so that they didn't go past his feet and threaten to trip him. The gloves, which were only supposed to go up to just above his elbow were stretched all the way up to his shoulders and were tied into knots at his wrists to prevent them from slipping off. The standard boots had been replaced with sandals, although that was a bit harder to tell when the ends of the pants flared out to cover the tips of his toes.

Bear laughed, "I'm not making fun of you, I promise. Just worried you might snag on some branches if you're not careful."

"I'll be careful," Kakashi scratched the back of his head, looking away.

Rabbit giggled, standing to check on Crane. "How are you feeling?" she looked him over.

Crane crossed his arms over his chest, voice soft. "I'm fine, their poison isn't that strong."

Rabbit placed her hands on her hips.

Crane glanced at her and sighed. "I'm _fine_, I promise. I am more upset that I got caught in the first place."

With a fond shake of her head she opened her arms to give him a quick hug, which he hesitantly returned. It was always so rewarding when the two sulky men of their group actually returned her affectionate gestures. The only one that had yet to fall into her system of hugs was Panther, but she was still holding out hope for that one.

"Don't feel too bad," she consoled, leaning back and letting her smile melt into her words. "Your tolerance is higher than a lot of people's. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't pushed Lion out of the way."

He shrugged half heartedly before pausing. "…I didn't realize you knew how it happened."

She pointed behind her towards their grumpiest member, who was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed.

"Butterfly told me when I went to check up on the two of you. Now stop moping and get working!" she poked him in the side, making him laugh.

"That's Panther's line," he shoved her hand away before it could make another jab at him. "Plagiarizing is beneath you."

"Ugh," Butterfly rolled his head away. "You two are disgusting."

Rabbit turned on her heel. Butterfly straightened and backed away quickly when she marched towards him but she managed to force him into a spine-breaking hug anyway.

Crane laughed at his failed attempts to escape, Bear joining in when he turned to see what was going on.

Panther dipped her head further, attempting to block them out. There was still three minutes before training was supposed to start and she would take all of the meditation time she could get in a day.

Those few minutes were spent with the others watching Butterfly slowly suffocate. When Rabbit finally let go, smiling smugly as he collapsed to catch his breath, she turned to look at their smallest member. Her humor died down when she took in the glazed look in his eye. She wished he wouldn't cover his face. She couldn't tell what he was feeling, but that look was heart achingly familiar. Wherever he was right then, it wasn't in the clearing with them.

Panther stood suddenly, drawing everyone's attention.

_"That's enough messing around,"_ she signed as they all moved to stand in front of her and salute. _"Today is mission response training."_

Crane perked up, his mood lifting.

She looked them over thoughtfully. _"Butterfly, explain the rules to our newest member."_

Butterfly scowled under his mask but turned so he was facing the child on his left. "We are split into groups of two or three, Panther picking who goes with who. One team is in charge of planning a mission for the others. They create the criteria for success and then the teams are pitted against the planning group until one of them fails. All of Training Ground Zero, as well as Headquarters, is available for each mission but we may not enter the village unless Panther allows it. Once one group succeeds they switch and the other group becomes the planning group."

"Huh," Kakashi processed the information, turning it over in his head. "Sounds interesting. Any big rules?"

"No killing, maiming, or any jutsus big enough to be noticed by the villagers."

That left quite a few options available.

"Sounds interesting," he smiled, eye curving. Butterfly stared at him before returning his attention to Panther.

_"We will have three teams today,"_ Panther continued as soon as she was sure he understood. _"Bear and Butterfly, Crane and Hatake, Rabbit and myself. Bear and Butterfly, you will be the first to go. You have thirty minutes to create your mission."_

The two men looked at each other before jumping away into the trees. Kakashi sat down and faced Crane as Rabbit and Panther moved to the edge of the clearing to wait.

"I suppose now is the best time to say I'm sorry for what happened," Kakashi leaned back on the palms of his hands. "I didn't know what that seal was going to do."

Crane was silent for a long, stilted moment, before he crossed his legs and rested his wrists on his knees. "Even if you had known, that would not have changed anything."

"Not really," he agreed, eye crinkling around the edges.

"I suppose I should offer a half hearted apology as well," Crane drawled out, tone blank. "Regardless of how you look or how young you are, I should not have let that blind me to the dangers you could hide. Even if you encouraged my reaction for your own benefit, I should have been more aware."

Kakashi laughed a little. "Are you apologizing to me or yourself?"

Crane merely inclined his head as a response. Kakashi assumed that was some kind of snarky response. All of the General's team seemed to speak a language surrounding the use of their body language. Most likely due to Panther's influence. He could make some close guesses, thanks to his relationship with Bear, but a lot of it was still beyond his grasp for now.

"So," Kakashi let the end stretch out, lifting himself up so he could rest his chin in his hand, "do you want me to follow your lead on this? So I can understand it better?"

Crane tapped one long finger against his knee thoughtfully. "…No. You have already proven that you are fairly capable. This is a teambuilding exercise that allows us to use what we know against each other so that each of us may grow. While having you follow my every command would allow you to learn a few things as we go along, it would do very little to enhance my own growth. Besides," he added, light grey eyes peering out of the holes in his mask to stare down at him, "I am interested in what other tricks you might be hiding up your sleeves."

Kakashi picked at the small knot on his gloves. "They are rather big right now."

Crane snorted, shaking his head. "You don't have to reveal everything, in fact I prefer that you don't, but I would like to know the basics of your abilities before we start. I would also like to take point in this exercise but anytime you have an idea I am interested in hearing it."

The tall man paused when the child's dark eye suddenly narrowed on him, gaze unwavering. It felt uncomfortably similar to the first time he had met Panther and she was assessing whether he was worth anything to Anbu before he joined. Not a look often seen on a child (or most other human beings, really) but there was plenty about this boy he did not know. He would play it smart this time, and reserve his judgment until he knew more.

"Alright," Kakashi's eye drifted towards the trees. Crane absently wondered if he passed whatever test the child had created. He supposed he would find out later. "At the moment I can only do the most basic of Jutsu, and not always reliably. My chakra is very… out of balance."

Crane hummed in the back of his throat. That was odd. From the research he had done on the young Hatake he should be very adept at various low level, and a handful of mid level Jutsu. Perhaps it had something to do with his injury, or why he was now in Anbu. Perhaps both.

"I'm good at Taijutsu, but definitely not enough to go head to head with anyone else here," Kakashi continued, lazily tapping his finger against the side of his bandaged head. "I can't do any Genjutsu yet. Traps and stealth are my strongest points right now. My strategies," he gave Crane a small, smug look, "are pretty good and I have a decent memory."

Crane allowed himself a small sigh. This kid had quite the personality. Still, he had promised himself to give this a shot.

"My strongest skills lie in strategy," Crane offered. "I can use various high level elemental Jutsu and have a decent handling of Taijutsu. Senbon is my preferred long range weapon and I have a set of daggers that I use in most battles."

He tugged one of the blades out its sheath on his left arm to show him. There were seven out of his set of twelve currently on his person.

"I am fluent in the use of poisons, and we can probably find the ingredients for non-lethal paralysis agents around here if we need to." He wouldn't bother mentioning the few lethal ones he already had, since they would not be using them on this particular day. "The rest you will have to find out for yourself."

Kakashi nodded along as he talked, tucking the information away for later use. "What about the others?" he asked, motioning towards the pair that stood just little ways away. "Should I know anything about them before we start?"

Crane thought about. "I will tell you anything you need to know after we learn what the mission is. You will get the basics towards success and no more."

"I can't tell if you would be a good teacher or a horrible one yet," Kakashi deadpanned.

Before Crane could decide if he should take offense to that, Bear and Butterfly jumped back into the clearing.

"Good to go!" the larger of the two laughed brightly.

_"What have you decided?"_ Panther twisted her fingers lightly, Rabbit trailing behind her.

"Assassination," Butterfly spoke up. "We have been hired to take out the two targets Rabbit and Hatake."

"…What?" Crane's voice was sharp.

Butterfly met his glare straight on. "If we can immobilize our targets, or touch upon where a vital organ would be, you have failed your mission. If either target should escape or we ourselves are killed, we fail."

Rabbit shifted on the balls of her feet. "What counts as escape?"

"If you are able to hide well enough that we can't find you," Bear replied easily. "Headquarters doubles as a town though. Everyone there is now a civilian."

"Bear, why did you agree to this?" Crane demanded, stepping forward suddenly. This was not subtle at all. Butterfly was allowing his anger at their newest member to affect him. This was not a mission designed for improvement, it was one where he could take out his own anger and most likely humiliate Hatake. It was one thing to hate the idea of being on the team with a child; it was another entirely to actively work to sabotage them. He wanted no part in this.

"We've done these types of missions before," Bear shrugged. "What's the problem?"

Crane clenched his hand into a fist, forcing his lungs to breath deep.

Panther tilted her head. Scanning over the small group she turned to Bear. He scratched at the side of his neck tiredly.

Before Crane could start arguing she cut him off. _"Very well. Due to the requirements for the mission it will last for three hours. We will begin in half an hour."_

She turned on her heel, disappearing into the leaves with Rabbit following anxiously behind her.

Crane cursed under his breath, leveling Butterfly with a deadly glare before motioning for Kakashi to follow him. The boy complied, eyes drifting backwards with a curious glint.

"This is far enough," Crane hopped down, rotating to face his current partner. "We have roughly Twenty-eight minutes to come up with a plan."

"You should hide," Kakashi threw out immediately.

Crane stopped himself from shooting down the idea the second it left his lips. Him hide? When he wasn't even the target?

"Why?" he folded his arms.

The kid scratched the back of his head lazily. "Mah, well, they know you better than me. You're obviously smart so you wouldn't choose to fight them head on. Not one-on-one, especially since I can't handle one of you by myself right now. They probably expect us to hide, but if they know you very well I doubt we can hide the whole time. So if you hide by yourself-"

"It will give us that much more extra time," he finished for him. It could work. If they were against Butterfly and Rabbit he would confidently say he could hide from them for the full time. He knew them both very well, and while the same could be said in return it would take them at least five hours to catch up to his schemes on most days. Bear, however, was often a wild card. If he was actually trying his best Crane could probably hide Hatake from him for a little less than an hour. Not nearly long enough, and it was true that if it turned into a fight the probability of losing was very high.

And they absolutely would not lose.

Teammates and even friends aside, Butterfly was allowing his emotions to control him far too much. This was just like when they had first come together as a team, and just like back then Crane was fully willing to shove him down a peg or ten.

"That is a good start," Crane tapped his fingers against his elbows, giving an almost imperceptible nod. "We'll need to be a bit more thorough than that though. They will split up at first to search for us. Bear will look for Panther and Rabbit; he has the best chance of finding them. Butterfly will look for us." He looked at Kakashi searchingly for moment before continuing. "He has the Byakugan, which is not easy to fool but can be done."

"That's a pain," Kakashi sighed, and Crane found himself agreeing. "What if we took them out first then?"

"Oh?" Crane grabbed his chin between his thumb and index finger, long fingers folding around his mask comfortably. "You think we could take them both on?"

"Not at all," the corners of his eye turned. "But we could probably take out one of them. And then we could start hiding."

"Interesting," Crane murmured, thinking it through. If they took out even one of them then the odds of success were high. Not to mention Panther and Rabbit were still very much a part of the mix. If they got rid of Bear and managed to track the two of them down they could probably draw Panther's attention to Butterfly if he got too close.

"Is that a yes?" Kakashi looked up at him, absentmindedly brushing his bangs away from his face.

"Hmm," Crane looked around. "We should get rid of Bear first. His tracking skills are good and his combat skills far exceed my own. If he were to find us first we would be hard pressed to get away. Butterfly can track us down easier with his eyes, but getting away from him is a far nicer task."

Kakashi scratched at his bandages, eye gazing upward. "So we surprise attack Bear, make a get away before Butterfly comes to take his revenge, and then hideaway? How will we hide if he has the Byakugan?"

"If I can find something roughly your size, I can channel chakra into it and make it seem as though I am carrying you. I will place it so that my tenketsu points should roughly cover where yours would be. He will stop searching and start chasing me, giving you quite a bit more breathing room."

"That would take a lot of control to fool him," he noted, looking at the tall man with interest. "But if you can do it that could work. If you hide out in the forest I could go to Headquarters. It would be harder to pick me out if I'm around others."

"Yes, but we need a plan for if we fail or Butterfly finds you there before he finds me," Crane pointed out. "If we don't kill Bear first they will eventually team up again, and we will be the first target."

The 'easier' target. Crane scoffed.

"I might be able to make a quick escape at first but they'd catch up pretty fast," Kakashi frowned.

"But you are small and can fit places that they can't. They would not dare to damage the building, not after what happened yesterday." Crane flicked through a mental blueprint of their base of operations. "If you can escape into the vents there are a few connecting areas that should be big enough to fit you. The best entrance would be the common area, in the top east corner. The grate is closer to the ceiling than the floor, but I'm sure you'll be able to think of something."

The child looked accepting enough. Good to know he wasn't afraid of tight spaces.

"It is an excellent place to set up a few… surprises," he added helpfully, smirking at the glimmer that appeared in the singular eye. "The longer you can hold either of them off the sooner I can get to you."

"What if they already killed you by then?" Kakashi wondered, but not sounding like he meant it to be an insult to his skill.

"Fair point. I would not worry though, I will not leave you unprotected either way."

"How's that?"

Crane's smirk began to grow. "Follow me, we only have a bit of time left."

-00-

Bear finished checking over his equipment, studiously ignoring his partner. The shorter man had obviously been expecting him to say something, judging from his subtle glances, but this was something he would have to learn for himself.

"Meet up in twenty?" he clarified with only a few seconds to spare.

"…Yes," Butterfly nodded. "Neither of us should engage either pair alone."

Bear waited a moment, to see if he would say anything else.

No dice.

With a slight sigh and tiny wave goodbye he ran the opposite way he had seen Panther and Rabbit go earlier. Panther had gotten him last time by staying on the same path she took at the beginning, knowing he would think she would never be so predictably easy. He doubted she would do that again though. She rarely, if ever, used the same trick twice.

He had gone a fair distance away from the starting point when the ground beneath him lurched up like some kind of demented worm and tried to drag him down. It brushed the sole of his foot before he managed to flip the other way.

The tree he landed on crackled ominously the second he touched it, streaks of lighting racing up towards him.

Giving in to gravity he let it pull him off the branch and to the ground, twisting to land on his feet once he was close enough.

Drawing a short blade from his back he angled it to his left, catching Cranes knife along its edges before it could stab him in the side.

"You're full of energy for a sickly guy," he teased, eyes catching the stormy glare just a few inches from his own.

Crane remained silent, choosing instead to grab a second knife from his waist and aim it at his neck.

Bear shoved him back easily, twirling his blade to knock away yet another knife that was thrown at him.

"You have way to many of those, by the way. People are starting to talk."

Crane scoffed at him, bouncing back on his toes and settling into a fighting stance. "I don't want to hear that from you. Your array of aprons is appalling."

"Rude," Bear frowned.

Crane launched forwards, ducking low and swiping his arm up. Bear grinned and rolled to the side. Striking his arm out he managed to catch the lanky man in the shoulder, but instead of being thrown away Crane dropped his knives and wrapped around his arm like a snake. His ankles found purchase around Bear's neck and he locked the muscles in place like a trap.

"Oh, good one!" Bear cheered. He would have applauded but, well, his arms were a bit preoccupied.

"Save your cheers for the end," Crane lectured, voice strained as Bear reached around with his other arm to try to pry him off. The second his hand clamped around his forearm Crane released his hold for a split second, keeping his legs in place, and latched on to both arms.

"What the heck are you doing?" Bear was taken aback. That was a horrible position to be in. All he had to do was pull his arms out and, with his amount of strength, he would be both freed and have Crane exactly were he needed him to be in order to take him out. There was no saving himself from that.

The bushes next to them shook softly, as though the wind had passed by.

Bear had not felt a breeze.

A strand of silver hair entered his field of view, but when he whipped around to kick it away Crane released one foot and slammed his heel into his face, forcing his mask to press down until there was a small _crack_.

Bear laughed when he felt a pin prick on his back, right over where his heart was. He fell backwards on the ground, the helpful kick making the process go that much faster. Crane stared down at him, posture annoyed, as Kakashi joined him at his side.

"Why must you always laugh when we fight? I broke your nose."

He laughed again, tilting his head to the side so that the blood would roll off his face instead of down his throat. He'd have to lift his mask every once in awhile to drain it out. "It's not a bad thing, honest! I'm just proud of you guys for getting the drop on me like that. I honestly didn't think you would work together so smoothly. Well done!"

Crane rolled his eyes, rotating his shoulder to ease the pain that had come when Bear had hit him. It would leave a nasty bruise, but the sense of accomplishment from this made it worth it.

"Hey, look at that," Kakashi tilted his head. "We just took down Anbu's second in command in two minutes. I feel kind of awesome."

"You guys are awesome," Bear readily agreed.

"The dead do not talk," Crane grimaced. "Your positivity is taking away from the feeling of success here. Come one Hatake, we need to leave before Butterfly comes to investigate."

"Kay. Later Bear, it was nice knowing you," Kakashi waved leisurely, trotting off with his partner.

Bear wiggled a bit, settling into his position in the grass. Since he had just 'died' he wasn't allowed to move from his spot unless an emergency happened or time ran out. His nose would be a minor annoyance as he lay there, but it was a nice day and there were plenty of clouds in the sky to watch.

Replaying his defeat in his mind he laughed yet again. Crane working together with Kakashi wasn't a big surprise. Professionalism was a part of who he was, through and through, so if he was teamed up with the kid then he would work with what he had. _Trusting_ Kakashi? That was different. If the kid hadn't moved fast enough, or had messed up in anyway, they both would have been knocked down faster then they could blink. Crane put himself in harms way because he trusted his partner would have his back.  
It made Bear wonder what must have happened between the two of them, and in such a short amount of time too. He would have to ask later. Maybe it would work on Butterfly.

-00-

"Is something wrong?" Rabbit looked up from the crisp lines they had been drawing in the dirt. The light of the fire had dimmed a bit, bringing her attention to her General.

Panther stared straight up at the ceiling above them, tapping one long finger against the stick in her hands.

_"Bear is out."_

Rabbit gaped. "Already?! But we just started!"

_"Perhaps I was too generous in giving them three hours,"_ she pondered. Flicking her attention back to the ground she drew a new line. _"Our strategy remains the same. For now, tell me what you would do if they came from the river."_

Rabbit took a second longer to get over her shock. She guessed Crane was more upset than she had originally thought. Not that she wasn't, of course, but something else must be bugging him to make him act this quickly. Butterfly annoyed her too sometimes. It was tough not to get on each other's nerves when their group was as close as they were, but it usually didn't reach a boiling point so quickly.

Then again, he did just gotten over being poisoned. Maybe that was a part of it.

Shaking her head, Rabbit turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

"The river would make things more difficult," she started, "especially if they have a water affinity."

They were grown men, they could solve their own problems.

-00-

Crane held out his hands, boosting Kakashi up once he had stepped on them. The cafeteria window Tiger had smashed through the other day had yet to be replaced, so it was easy enough for him to slip through.

"Why are the windows so high?" the child grumbled, hoisting himself over the edge. They seemed to be at a normal height from the inside, but on the outside they were a good eight feet off the ground.

"If they weren't we would be attacked more often," Crane explained, going over the plan mentally for the sixth time.

"I still want to know how that happened," Kakashi stuck his head back out to stare down at him. "How exactly did you guys piss off mutant spiders enough to make them come after you like that?"

"I'm sure Bear will be happy to explain later," he brushed the question aside. "The vents in there are about the same distance from the ground as the one in the common area you will be using. Can you reach it?"

Kakashi disappeared for a second before peering back out. "Yeah, no problems there. See you in an hour?"

"Or less," Crane nodded. If he wasn't back in an hour Kakashi new what to do. "Signal if anything changes."

"You too."

Crane melted back into the trees and Kakashi turned towards the door. Badger and Chameleon stared right back at him from where they were plastering and painting the walls.

"Kid," Badger started slowly. "If you're supposed to be hiding here I would definitely pick a different spot."

Kakashi frowned, feeling a creeping tension crawl down his spine. "…Why?"

"Bee's cleaning the hallways," Chameleon snorted. "And she's dying for an excuse to get out of it."

Kakashi groaned. His job just got much, much harder.

-00-

Two hours. Two _fucking_ hours and he had not found either of his targets. And his partner was already knocked out, of course. He couldn't forget that. Just like he couldn't forget the happy greeting he had received when he found the behemoth of a man lazing around in the grass as though it were a causal Tuesday morning.

It didn't help that he knew exactly were one of the groups was at all times, and yet he still could not get to them. The second he activated his Byakugan he could see Crane running north of one of the rivers with the stupid child in his arms. Hatake couldn't even run for himself, it seemed, which should have made them easy targets but every time he got close Crane seemed to know where he was coming from and would high tail it in the other direction. He always had been the better runner, but this was getting ridiculous. He only had one hour left to get both targets, by _himself_, and he had yet to pinpoint Rabbit and Panther's location.

Growling low under his breath Butterfly focused in on Crane once more. His back was facing him, the brat held in front of him as he ran. This was getting ridiculous. He had originally wanted to save most of his chakra for the rest of the training session (Panther's missions were always such a trial to get through) but he refused to fail this round for such a simplified reason.

Pushing his chakra into his legs, Butterfly shot off of the branch he had been settled on. He was only a few meters away from where Crane was crouched when the man's head perked up and he started moving the other way.

_'Not this time,'_ Butterfly thought angrily, veering to the left a bit. The boundary to the training zone was close by. Crane would have to turn at some point.

He did not turn. He slowed down until he was just short of toeing the line to the boundary and stopped. Butterfly paused, waiting for him to move, but he stayed exactly where he was.

_'Done running? It's about time.'_

Butterfly launched himself towards his targets. All he had to do was get past Crane once and he would be able to get rid of Hatake. Then he could focus all of his efforts on finding the others and perhaps still have a chance at succeeding.

Crane turned to face the direction he was coming from and Butterfly skidded to a halt.

"What?!" he hissed, eyes narrowing in on what the other man was carrying. He had assumed it was Hatake. Past Crane's own Tenketsu points he could make out strands of chakra running through the boy's body.

It was a fucking _log._ Crane was running his own chakra through the wood, spreading it out to make it look like chakra veins, while holding it so that his Tenketsu points would cover most of the area Hatake's would have been.

That son of a-!

Crane dispelled his chakra suddenly, dropping the log at his feet. With a smug lift of his head he tapped the top of his wrist.

Forty-five minutes left.

Butterfly focused more chakra into his eyes. Crane wasn't with Hatake, and his back was to the boundary. If he could just locate Hatake then he should be able to get to him before Crane could catch up to try to defend him.

The veins around his eyes bulged, his focus narrowing. Looking back over the forest a slight flicker of blue drew his eyes downwards. The tunnels below the surface blurred his vision; making it difficult to see anything at all, but every once in awhile a flicker of blue would peak through barely noticeable.

The tips of his ears burned. It was a blatantly obvious hiding place, considering how they all knew about it, and yet he hadn't even thought to…

Shaking his head he pushed the thoughts away. Mistakes made were new lessons learned. It would not happen again.

He turned his attention to headquarters. Various members were milling around, most of them either in the cafeteria or the common room. If the kid was smart he would hide around those areas.

There! Just behind one of the other Anbu (Turtle, based on the sluggish flow of chakra) he could see smaller, underdeveloped chakra veins. Something seemed… off about them, but there were clear Tenketsu meaning it could not be a trick like before.

When he moved, Crane shook his head and followed.

-00-

Kakashi glanced up at the clock against the wall. There was only thirty minutes left.

"Aren't you supposed to be training right now?" Hawk asked from his perch on the couch to his left. Kakashi had tucked himself between the wall and the chair Turtle was napping in so that she was facing where the training grounds were and her body would cover most of his.

"What makes you think I'm not?" He smiled.

Hawk stared at him blankly before deciding not to push the issue. The kid looked like he was hiding, not training.

Kakashi shrugged, settling in further. He had known their plan would work, but now he was really wishing he had brought a book with him. Rereading the same scroll over and over was just as bad as doing nothing at all, in his opinion.

A surge of chakra caught his attention. There was Crane's signal.

Unfolding from his crouched position he hefted himself up onto the back of the chair, carefully side stepping around Turtles head, so he could reach the metal grate high up on the wall next to it. Using his Kunai to loosen the bolts he pulled it off and squeezed himself into the tight space.

"Uh…" Hawk's voice sounded behind him.

"I'm done!" a new voice cheered, followed by the slamming sound of the door hitting the opposite wall.

Perfect timing. It had taken him a lot of backtracking and odd looks to get around Bee without her noticing. He had been starting to worry that she would find him before Butterfly did.

Pushing himself further through the vents Kakashi focused on Crane's chakra. He was fighting someone, obviously Butterfly, and they were only a few yard away from headquarters. Excellent.

-00-

Crane huffed, arching out of the way of another palm strike. So far Butterfly had gotten him in his left arm, leaving it swaying helplessly at his side, but that had been the arm he had hurt fighting Bear so at least the pain was gone. He always had hated the crawling, numbing sensation of having his Tenketsu points closed though.

Butterfly was not unscathed either. There were two thin slices along his left leg (Rabbit was always telling him to use his right, since it was his dominant side, but Butterfly was adamant in becoming completely ambidextrous in every way) and another on the flesh of his upper right arm. Crane had managed to get him when the other man tagged his arm.

It was helpful that Butterfly had picked an area with more complicated traps in it when leaving the training grounds. While they both could use them against one another it was drawing the battle out nicely. There was only twenty-three minutes left now.

"You know," he called, ducking behind a tree when one of the traps started shooting needles at him, "you could always go for the other two. I know you found out where they are."

"And you know?" Butterfly scoffed, ducking as a large blade whizzed overhead.

"Of course," his tone was light. "It was obvious they would use the tunnels. You mean you didn't think of that?"

Butterfly sneered, smashing into the tree he was hiding behind and reaching for his other arm. Crane kicked at a wire near the left of his foot, flipping back when the explosive tag went off. Butterfly cursed as he was forced to momentarily retreat.

"In fact, I don't really know why you are going for Hatake at all right now. He was much further away than they were when you figured out my trick. They would have been a better choice."

Crane's voice was even, but the words were pointed. Butterfly moved in again, trying to get around him this time.

"He is obviously the easier target," he replied sharply, replacing himself with a fallen branch when Crane moved to intercept him and rushed towards the base.

"Obviously," Crane's voice repeated blandly behind him. He did not try to come after him. Instead, he moved to go back the way they had come from.

Butterfly skidded to a halt, unease taking firm root in his gut. Focusing back on Headquarters he tried spotting Hatake again.

He wasn't there. He couldn't see him at all anymore, which wasn't possible unless he had gone-

Butterfly let out a low hiss, twisting his fingers together before diving towards the ground. The dirt split before him, dragging him down as fast as he could make it.

-00-

"Thanks," Kakashi reached up to grab Crane's hand as the tall man pulled him out of the ground. They were back near where they had started, just a few feet away from the clearing. "Is he down there?"

"Yes," Crane smirked, letting go once he was sure he had his balance.

Kakashi grinned back, brushing off his vest and pants. "Thanks for the seals too, by the way. I didn't realize you had any sealing knowledge."

Crane shrugged with his right shoulder. "Now you know."

The kid shook his head, crinkled eye amused. "Well, what do you want to do now?"

"We should wait in the clearing for everyone else to return," he jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Ah, rubbing salt in the wound," Kakashi said knowingly. He had gotten the gist of what was going on between the two men (everyone needed a rival, apparently) but all of this was going above and beyond. Crane didn't seem like the petty type, and if Butterfly really was a Hyuuga he was not likely to take any of this well at the end of the day. Not that he was complaining. All of this was acting as both a great distraction from darker thoughts leading to difficult choices, and it gave him valuable insight on his new team. If the Hokage had his way Kakashi doubted he would be leaving them any time soon and their skills were very valuable if he could convince them to help him out every once in a while.

"Not salt," Crane disagreed, tone dropping from smug to contemplative. "Alcohol."

"Huh."

So cleaning a wound instead of making it worse. Perhaps if he knew them better that would make more sense, but he would just have to wait and see.

Crane rolled his shoulder back, kneading at the muscles in his neck.

"Still hurts?" Kakashi wondered, landing next to him.

He shook his head, lowering his hand. "It's fine. We should utilize our extra time and plan out what mission we are going to assign."

One silver brow rose. "You mean you don't already have one in mind?"  
"I have plenty," Crane sent him a pointed look, "but so far your plans have proven very interesting. I am curious to know if you have anymore."

Kakashi's eye curved as he threw his arms behind his head. "I have plenty," he parroted. "There is one I've always wanted to try."

Crane motioned for him to continue.

-00-

Time ran out. Panther, Rabbit, and Butterfly returned together with Bear strolling in shortly after. Rabbit was looking at Butterfly with exasperation as he glared murderously at the two people waiting for them in the clearing.

Crane and Kakashi were sitting cross-legged in the middle, looking for all the world like they hadn't just made him go on a wild goose chase. He had run into Panther and Rabbit after dashing through the tunnels, and while he held out for a considerable time it was not nearly long enough to make it past the deadline.

_"We will move on to the next mission,"_ Panther spared no time. _"Due to two teams succeeding I will allow Rabbit, Hatake, and Crane to decide who goes next."_

Crane and Kakashi shared a look, the younger shrugging and angling his head towards the rest of them. The older man nodded.

Rabbit could honestly care less about who went first; they would all have a turn in the end. What she did care about was the interaction she had just witnessed. She had been under the impression that Crane did not like their newest member.

"You both may go first," Crane bowed his head to Panther for a moment. "I don't mind being last."

…Maybe she was looking into it too much. Crane spoke like he was the only one in his group, as though Kakashi had no actual say in anything. Which was rude, of course, but more believable coming from the taller man.

Panther looked them over curiously. _"Very well. We do not need any planning time so we will begin right away."_

Rabbit blinked when she was nudged forward, Panther stepping away. Okay then, so she was explaining things.

"This will be a protection mission," she started, standing straighter than usual with Panther at her shoulder. "One team will be the enemy while the other two teams will escort one of their members from the far edge of the training grounds to Headquarters. If the acting civilian is safely delivered the escort teams are successful in their mission, if their civilian dies then the opposing side is successful."

Panther stepped forward, holding out a small set of sticks. Bear and Crane reached out to grab one, leaving a noticeably shorter one in the General's hand.

"Okay," Rabbit looked them over. "Panther and I will be the attacking team. Bear, Butterfly, Crane, and Kakashi-kun will be the escorts. You four please pick another stick."

Panther went around to them, allowing each of them to take another stick. Rabbit checked the results, humming in the back of her throat.

Crane had drawn the short stick.

"The civilian will be Crane. So Butterfly, Bear, and Kakashi-kun will be guarding him as you all move. We'll start as soon as he reaches the edge of the training grounds. The usual rules apply."

Panther tapped the side of her mask lightly before turning to walk away. Rabbit hurried after her.

"Well," Bear cracked his neck and stretched his shoulders. "Shall we?"

Kakashi and Crane shared a look before glancing at Butterfly. Crane shook his head and Kakashi moved to stand by Bear.

"Where's the edge of the training grounds?" he asked, leaving the two feuding men to trail silently behind them.

-00-

"They're only a few feet away," Rabbit informed, binoculars nestled firmly over the eyeholes in her mask.

Panther whistled softly from down below the tree she was in.

"Tight formation," she answered. "Butterfly is taking point, Bear is at the rear, and Kakashi is on the left of Crane."

Panther nodded to herself before knocking twice, then three times, then once on the bark of the tree.

"Understood."

Rabbit tucked her binoculars away into her vest and started climbing higher.

Panther twisted the fingers of her left hand and let the earth pull her down.

-00-

"Once we reach that tree we start," Bear pointed out for their youngest member. "If you see, hear, or smell anything weird make sure to mention it."

"Okay," Kakashi looked around. At a casual walking pace with no interruptions it would take them a little less than an hour to get to Headquarters. Not including the traps in the way, which would add around twenty minutes to their time.

Once they rounded the tree in question they pressed their formation in closer. Usually an Anbu escort was a lot more subtle, but against other Anbu and with a highly untrained member of their team Bear thought it would be better for Crane to be within easy reach of them all.

Kakashi frowned at their surroundings, spreading out his senses. Besides a few small animals nothing raised any red flags yet.

"What if they use the tunnels?" he wondered, eyebrow rising when Butterfly scoffed behind him.

Bear hummed thoughtfully. "They would be a lot harder to see if they went that route."

"As a civilian I would be hard pressed to run from and underground attack," Crane offered.

"True," Bear agreed. "Alright then, come here Crane."

They couldn't see his grimace behind his mask, but his body language made it perfectly clear.

"…You're not carrying me."

The large man grinned. "Well the kid can't do it and Butterfly would be more hampered by your weight than I would. If I carry you I can still have a free hand too."

Crane wanted to disagree, and he had quite a few arguments to back him up on the tip of his tongue already, but most of them would no doubt be brushed aside and end up wasting their time. Instead he shoved his pride down forcefully (while sending Butterfly a pointed glare because if he could do it so could the other damn it) and stepped towards Bear.

Bear bent down to wrap one arm around his waist and lifted him off the ground.

A gloved hand ripped through the dirt where Crane had been standing, fingers curling around the empty air that would have been his ankle.

Tightening his hold, Bear leapt backwards while Butterfly slammed his palm into the ground. Kakashi moved to follow Crane as the ground rippled under his feet. Butterfly stayed where he was, fighting for control over the earth as they distanced themselves. Once they were far enough away he let go of his connection and rushed after them.

A few seconds later the rocks shattered as Panther shot up and out, twisting to throw a blade at the exposed part of Crane's shoulder.

Kakashi's kunai hit it out of the way and into the bushes.

Landing on her feet she folded her hands in front of her. Taking a deep breath she lifted her mask enough to reveal a pointed chin and a large, jagged scar tearing through the right side of her pursed lips before they parted and a geyser of water surged towards them.

Bear twisted on his left foot, pushing backwards so he was still moving as he brought his free hand forwards.

"Earth Barrier," he called, lifting his hand up skywards. A wall of solid ground rose to follow it, scattered droplets of water landing on them like rain from the resounding crash on the other side.

They all jumped into the trees when the air around them crackled and the hair on the backs of their necks stood on end. Electricity danced across the droplets of water left behind, Panther right behind it as she flipped over the wall.

Kakashi scowled as his skin was shocked wherever water had managed to touch. Not enough to hurt, but a definite annoyance and possible distraction.

"Wind Cutter!"

Bear tossed Crane towards Butterfly, using the momentum to push them both out of the way of the fierce blades of air aimed down at them.

Rabbit jumped down from her perch at the top of the trees, leg coiling to kick Butterfly as Panther flickered in to view right below where Crane was falling.

Kakashi slammed into Rabbit's side, allowing Butterfly to grab Crane and swing him back towards Bear. Kakashi ducked his head to avoid being elbowed; pressing his heels into the woman's back to flip away. Snagging his ankle when he pushed off she flung him towards the ground.

Kakashi barely angled his body in time to avoid Panther's blade when she jumped up to meet him.

A blast of smoke covered the area, limiting vision enough for him to duck past her and rejoin the others.

"Left!" Butterfly warned, blocking Rabbit's attempt at knocking him out of the way with the heel of her boot.

Bear caught Panther's blade on his armguard, shoving his weight against her to knock her off balance. Kakashi fell down and swept his leg out, catching her already unbalanced foot by the ankle. She made a jab for Crane as she fell but Bear kicked her out of the way before it could reach.

Rabbit gathered her chakra to the tips of her fingers, sharpening it. Butterfly hissed as her jab cut into his side, activating his eyes and slamming his fingers into her left leg. As she fell she lashed out and caught his ankle, leaving a deep cut along the back and side.

Panther caught her before she could hit the ground, retreating back the way they had come.

"Keep running," Bear commanded, switching Crane to his other shoulder. Kakashi and Butterfly fell into a pointed formation behind him; the younger struggling to keep pace while the other was forced to hop on with one foot out of commission.

"That won't last long," Butterfly huffed, forehead beaded in sweat.

"Can Panther reopen Tenketsu?" Kakashi breathed harshly. He _hated_ his small body and its stupid lungs.

"She doesn't have to," Crane replied when Butterfly refused to answer. "Rabbit can do it herself."

"How long?"

"Two minutes, minimum."

Bear veered left suddenly. Pulling to a stop he dug through the pouch on his leg and pulled out a stack of papers. He split them up and tossed them towards the other two.

"Spread out and stick those on as many trees as you can in a minute. Meet back up at the river, we'll follow that for as far as we can before they catch up."

Kakashi glanced over the explosive tags in his hand. Giving Bear a rushed salute (and sending Crane a pointed look) he jumped left as Butterfly went right.

He didn't get as many done as he would have in his original body, seeing as how he still had quite a few left in his hand when he arrived at the river, but he had gotten a decent amount.

Bear nodded at him and Butterfly when they jumped down at nearly the same time before silently continuing up the river.

Kakashi took the chance to scoop some of the water up into a large leaf he had grabbed (his usual canteen had been knocked off when Rabbit had thrown him). Draining it down he refilled it and offered it to Butterfly. The man seemed taken aback for a moment before turning his eyes back to the front and ignoring him. Rolling his eye Kakashi sped up a bit and offered the leaf to Bear.

"Thanks kid," he laughed, grabbing it and wiggling his mask up enough to drink.

Kakashi looked at Crane questioningly.

"I appreciate the offer but I'm fine," Crane waved him off. "I'm not doing a lot of running anyway."

"He's a freeloader," Bear sighed happily, handing the leaf back. "Mind getting me some more?"

Kakashi smiled, making a few more trips for the both of them.

"We're nearly to the traps," Bear informed him once they were close enough. "If we don't make it to them before they catch up make sure to focus on getting ourselves to that point. They can use the traps against us, but we can use them to gain some more distance."

"Can I make a suggestion?" Kakashi piped up.

Bear glared back at Butterfly when the man made a move to protest and motioned for Kakashi to continue.

"Butterfly and I can hold them off long enough for you to get Crane back to base."

Butterfly rolled his eyes, but both Bear and Crane stared at him oddly.

"I don't think I can keep up for much longer," Kakashi admitted with a shrug. "And Butterfly's foot is slowing him down. You would move a lot faster without us, and we could stop them long enough for you to reach base. I don't know the traps as well as you do anyway."

Bear thought about it. "…You sure you're up for that?"

Kakashi let his eye curve up. "Well, as long as Butterfly thinks he can do it too I'm sure we'll be fine."

The man in question scowled, insulted, but nodded when Bear looked to him.

"We're close enough that the odds would be better if we split up. I don't know about Hatake, but I can definitely slow them down enough for you to complete the mission."

Kakashi laughed. "See? We'll be fine."

"Well, it's hard to argue with that logic," Bear sighed, meaning for it to come off more sarcastic than anything. Instead he just sounded amused. "Alright. That means the mission goal has changed for the two of you."

Kakashi tilted his head. He was pretty sure that only Panther and Rabbit could tweak the mission…

"Your new mission is to fight for your life. If you die, you fail."

Bear looked them both in the eye, voice commanding.

"Yes sir," they saluted.

Behind them a chain of explosions went off.

"There's your cue," Bear said, saluting them back. "Have fun!"

Crane waved at them as Bear sped up. Within seconds he was much farther ahead, showing just how much he had been holding back so they could keep up.

"Don't get in my way Hatake," Butterfly groused, eyes tracking the two women as they were headed towards them.

"Funny," Kakashi yawned. "I was about to say the same thing."

Butterfly suddenly grabbed the back of his uniform, fingers curling easily around the extra fabric. "I'm going to throw you."

Kakashi blinked. "…Not at Panther please."

Butterfly rolled his eyes. "She wouldn't care if I threw you. Rabbit…"

Rabbit definitely would.

Pulling his arms back Butterfly double-checked the positions of both women. "Try to last at least a minute," he grumbled, taking aim.

"I don't think I'll be the one who has problems."

The child's laughter echoed in his ear when he threw him harder than he had originally planned.

The two chasers entered his normal line of site a split second later. Rabbit's steps stuttered in shock when Kakashi was only a few inches away. She squawked softly when he slammed into her shoulder, sending the two of them tumbling into the river. Panther ignored them, drawing her blade once more and charging at Butterfly.

Rabbit's head burst out of the water. The blow had knocked her mask off center just enough to allow the river water to flood in. Focusing her chakra on her hands and feet she pulled herself up so that she was standing on its choppy surface, one hand moving to drain her mask.

Kakashi surface a little ways away, swimming immediately for the shore. She watched him carefully to make sure he made it. A rather strong current swept the boy back under and, after a few long moments, he failed to resurface.

Rabbit's heart clenched.

Diving down quickly she sought him out. He was still fighting against the current, but was clearly getting weaker. She cut a path to him, chakra aiding her speed. Once she was close enough she curled an arm around his stomach and pushed for the surface.

"Kakashi-kun," she called worriedly when he didn't immediately start gasping for breath. The boy was limp in her arms.

Flinging herself at the bank she laid him out on the ground. His hair was matted against his forehead, covering most of his one free eye. His uniform was completely waterlogged, which was probably what added to his troubles in getting out. Too much fabric weighing him down with the added water weight.

Green chakra coiled around her hands. Lowering herself down she hovered her hands over his chest, running it along to try to find what was wrong. Water in the lungs was the most likely-

A kunai was poised lazily over her stomach. A stab down, and it would be a fatal wound (which she would be able to heal before it killed her, no question, but the rules were clear).

Kakashi's eye cracked open, the water-laden fabric of his mask outlining his smirk perfectly.

"I thought you promised not to let my age affect our missions," he rasped. Clearly the river had affected him, but not nearly as much as he had been pretending it had.

Rabbit let out a breathy chuckle, leaning back onto her ankles. "I didn't. If you were any of the others I would have done the same thing."

"Yeah," his eye was warm and it made her smile. "I can see that."

She shook her head, loose tangles of wet hair slapping against her mask. Lying down next to him she took a deep breath.

"I suppose I'll just stay here then," she sighed. "I can't believe I let you trick me again."

Kakashi hoisted himself up and reached under his vest to try to twist out some of the water. Their uniforms were mostly waterproof, but he had a lot of extra space to soak up what it could. He didn't want it slowing him down even further.

"Don't feel to bad," he looked down at her. "I'm very good at my job."

"So I'm learning," she replied dryly. "You might want to go finish it then."

He shrugged. "Mah, probably. Hopefully I don't get lost."

Rabbit giggled. She could hear Butterfly and Panther's fight from here; it would be very hard to get lost.

"Later," he waved, running off.

She raised a hand to wave back before tucking both arms behind her head. The weather was rather nice today.

-00-

Butterfly could not help but do a double take when Hatake appeared, throwing a handful of senbon at Panther that were easily deflected, and Rabbit did not follow after him. He tensed up, waiting for her to suddenly jump in, but she never did.

"Rabbit is taken care of!" Hatake waved brightly at him, and if not for the evidence he would have laughed. Panther used his distraction to flip past him, attention focused entirely on where Bear and Crane had gone.

Butterfly cursed, kicking up to stop her. She grabbed his leg and wrapped around it, her own foot smashing into his shoulder instead. He managed to raise his hand fast enough to close to foremost Tenketsu point in her lower leg, but she still managed to wrap her other leg around his neck, twist, and fling him towards the child running towards them.

Hatake jumped as he dug his fingers into the ground, forcibly pulling himself to a stop. He still slid under the air born child but managed to stop before he hurtled into a tree.

"That must have hurt," the child peered over his shoulder at him as he ran. Butterfly growled and rushed to give chase once more.

"You could throw me again," Hatake offered cheerfully. "Maybe it'll work again!"

Butterfly could feel his eye begin to twitch.

Before he could reply (most likely by throwing him, like he wanted, but in the opposite direction) Panther slide to a halt a few feet before the invisible line dividing the training grounds from the traps surrounding it.

The two men following her stopped as well.

_"Crane has reached Headquarters,"_ she turned so they could see her hands. _"Return to the clearing."_

Pride and success rushed through Butterfly's veins, only slightly dimmed by the child's proclamation of "oh, that's cool".

Brat.

-00-

Bear slapped Butterfly on the shoulder as Rabbit was healing his ankle, reaching over to ruffle Kakashi's hair at the same time.

"Good job guys, you held them back and you didn't die!"

Butterfly perked up at the praise and Kakashi smiled up at the large man.

"And you carried the princess all the way to the castle, good job Bear," the child replied snarkily.

Bear laughed when Crane groaned.

"Done!" Rabbit said before any arguments could start up.

Panther stepped forward, gathering their attention. _"Crane and Hatake, you are the last group. Do you need time to create a mission?"_

"No," Crane shook his head, turning his back on Kakashi. "I have one. I also have a request."

Panther felt her interest peak. This wasn't unusual, but Crane was rarely the one to ask. It was usually Bear, although Rabbit had some interesting ideas as well. She motioned for the man to go on.

"I would like to make it a requirement that whoever fails this mission will join the extra hour long training for poisoning today. And if I should fail, then I will have two hours instead of one."

Panther thought about it. The only one who enjoyed poison training was Rabbit, and even then she did not actively seek it out. Crane was obviously planning something, and while she could make her own assumptions it was far more interesting to watch it play out.

_"Very well,"_ she agreed, ignoring Bear's dismayed sigh.

Crane bowed his head thankfully.

"This will be a retrieval mission," he explained to his teammates as Kakashi lazed about behind him. "Each of you will need to obtain one of the markers that I hold. In order to succeed all you need is one of these."

They stared at him when he showed three small wooden orbs nestled between his fingers.

"There are only three," Rabbit pointed out the obvious, her voice curious and wary.

"Yes," he said simply.

"So someone has to lose no matter what," Butterfly scoffed, still irritated with the last round. "Which means you still win in the end."

"We need one to win too," Kakashi piped up. Crane casually folded his arms when they glanced back at him to see if they were serious.

_"Besides the markers is there any other way to fail?"_ Panther wondered. This was seeming uncomfortably familiar. Hatake clearly had more of a role in this plan than they were pretending he did.

"The usual rules apply," Crane shrugged, "but other than that anything goes. I would like to make it that the time limit is less, however."

_"How much time?"_

"One hour."

Bear's shoulders rose, the grin clear in his voice even as his eyes flitted curiously between Crane and Kakashi. "So high adrenaline is guaranteed."

Rabbit stretched out her arms. Something was going on between her dumb teammates, but Crane obviously had something planned out and she was more than happy to leave him to it. It was so rare for her to be paired with just Panther on these days; she would not waste this opportunity.

"When do we start?" Bear asked, stretching out his legs.

Crane reached down and grabbed Kakashi by the back of his uniform, the extra fabric making a perfect handhold. "Now."

They disappeared in a flash of leaves.

-00-

"There!" Rabbit whispered, leaning forward on her branch. Crane and Kakashi were by the river again.

Panther grabbed her shoulder when she moved to approach them. Rabbit gave her a curious look and she pointed back to the odd pair.

_"They are waiting for someone to attack them."_

Rabbit nodded along. That must mean they had something planned.

"Should we wait for the other two to attack first?" she wondered.

Panther twirled her hand in the air. They would wait for a few minutes, to see if the others would in fact attack them, and if nothing happened they would go themselves.

Rabbit settled in to wait.

-00-

"They are just standing there," Butterfly informed his partner. "But I do not see anything around them that could indicate a trap."

"That doesn't really mean much with Crane there," Bear pointed out. "And the kid has some tricks up his sleeves."

Butterfly scoffed. "It doesn't matter. We need to get the markers before Panther and Rabbit."

Bear shrugged, waiting for the other man to come up with a plan. He had told Panther he wouldn't interfere, and he planned on keeping his word.

"We'll attack from the river," Butterfly decided, temporarily deactivating his eyes. "I will attack Crane and disable him. You take care of Hatake."

Bear nodded, falling back to follow from behind. He had expected the man to want to take out Kakashi himself, but he didn't seem as intent on the kid as before.

When they dived into the waters and began moving upstream he wondered where all of this would lead.

-00-

"Who do you think will attack first?" Kakashi wondered, hands tucked comfortably behind his head.

"Butterfly, and by extension Bear. Panther would attack first if they took too long, but Butterfly lacks patience," Crane explained. They were standing back to back with Crane facing the river and Kakashi facing the trees.

"Think this will work?"

Crane glanced over his shoulder at him. "Much of this is _your_ plan. You need to believe your plan will work for it to actually succeed."

Kakashi shrugged. "Makes sense. But if that's true then why do we make back up plans?"

Crane scanned over the waters with narrowed eyes. "One plan can not possibly account for every detail or change. A back up plan does not mean your belief in the original plan is falsely placed, it simply means that you are taking into account that your enemy also has a plan."

"What if your enemy's plan is better?"

"Then it is a good thing you came up with a few back up plans."

"What if all of your back up plans fail?"

"Then you did not make enough and you will have to rely on your instincts and reflexes."

"What if everything that could go wrong does go wrong and everything turns against you?"

Crane withheld a sigh. "Then I pray that you are strong enough to fight your way through regardless. There is always a way to succeed, it just depends on your ability to see it."

"What if you can see the way, but you aren't strong enough to reach it?"

Crane shook his head. "You ask a lot of questions."

"Yup," Kakashi agreed, the 'p' popping as it left his lips.

"Let's focus on this first and then I will answer your questions afterwards," Crane offered.

"Sounds good."

A flick of water, moving unnaturally against the river's current, drew Crane's attention and he spread his feet apart.

"They're here."

Kakashi started running.

A wave of water blocked Crane's vision suddenly. Throwing himself backwards he narrowly dodged the hand poised to strike his neck that came slicing through. Butterfly followed him for every step he took back, relentlessly.

"Falling back into your family's style," Crane noted. "I thought you did not want to rely on your eyes?"

Butterfly swept his leg out, twisting it up when Crane jumped. "You should stop talking when we fight."

Crane flicked one of his daggers at him to make him back away. "I would not talk if it didn't bother you."

Butterfly scowled, surging forwards again.

-00-

When the broad arms circled around him Kakashi bit down on the small bit of skin left uncovered between the vest and glove. Hard.

Bear cursed when he broke skin, drawing back. Kakashi hurriedly uncapped his canteen and washed out his mouth. He made sure to take three big mouthfuls, swirl them around, and spit them back out.

"Seriously…?" Bear bemoaned as his arm began to burn, the muscles feeling like needles were pricking them.

Just to be safe Kakashi spat a few times into the grass. He didn't want to swallow any of the poison.

"You're not supposed to eat stuff like that kid," Bear forced his feet to step towards him, one at a time.

"It only counts as eating if I swallow it," Kakashi grinned. "Crane said so."

"Crane's an ass," Bear mumbled. The poison wasn't fatal, but it was doing a number on his ability to move. It wouldn't be knocking him down, but it was certainly slowing him down.

"I didn't have enough to knock you out," Kakashi looked him over. "I thought Butterfly would come after me so we used a lower dose."

"Good for us then."

Bear forced his arm to jerk forward to grab him but Kakashi had been expecting it. He turned on his heel and started running the opposite way.

"Ugh, I hate this stuff."

Bear followed after him, attempting to shake off the pins and needles while forcing his mind away from the horrendous taste it was leaving in the back of his mouth.

-00-

"Yes!" Rabbit cheered, the wooden sphere clasped tightly in her hand. She had jumped down after Butterfly had managed to land a successful hit to Crane's hip, managing to duck under his guard and slip it out of the side of his vest.

Crane's knee smashed into her chest as Butterfly hit the inside of her arm with a sharp strike.

"Nooo," she groaned as it slipped from her slackened grip right back to Crane.

The tall man grabbed it lightly from the air and flipped back when Butterfly moved to retaliate. Crane frowned when Butterfly reached over to reopen Rabbit's Tenketsu before they both rushed him.

-00-

He really shouldn't have let Rabbit heal his nose earlier. It was practically pointless now, seeing as how it had cracked yet again.

To be fair, Panther hadn't been aiming the kick at him. She had been aiming at the kid he was following, who had jumped out of the way in time for him to take the hit. Although, she definitely should have been able to stop in time before hitting him, so didn't that technically mean she was aiming for him?

Panther sent him an unimpressed head tilt (rude) and jumped after Kakashi once again. He followed behind, more than happy to let her take point this time. Maybe the kid would bite her. Then she could see how she likes it.

A hissing sound from their right made them exchange a look.

_'That little brat,'_ he jumped away from the tree he was on quickly, scanning for one that was safe. _'I thought that explosion earlier was a little small!'_

As the explosive tags around them went off Bear made a mental note to never give Kakashi any from his personal stash again. At least not without counting them carefully to make sure he put them where they had been intended to go.

He could hear Panther's breath echo off her mask in short bursts. Well, at least she was amused by all of this.

-00-

"I'll give you one chance to hand it over," Butterfly offered, hand outstretched.

Rabbit looked at it, then back to his mask with a scowl. "You really think I'll just hand it over?"

"As your teammate I wanted to make sure you had to opportunity to avoid further pain and humiliation," he replied politely.

Rabbit snorted. "Yeah right. Why didn't you offer Crane the same thing then?"

Their missing friend was currently tied to a tree behind them, most of his Tenketsu points closed and soaking wet.

"Don't say I didn't give you a chance."

Rabbit rolled her eyes when he settled into his stance. "Oh I'll remember. How you tried to get out of fighting me because you were scared you would lose!"

Skipping back onto the river surface she rushed the other way with Butterfly hot on her tail.

-00-

Bear gaped, eyes riveted on the woman before him. "What are you- Panther don't you dare!"

Her mask was lifted over her lips, one hand on her hips as the other held the small circular sphere they had been fighting over. She lifted the sphere, rather small now that she thought about, and let it hover over her lips.

"Panther, I swear if you-!"

She opened her mouth and popped it in like a piece of candy.

"Damn it!"

Bear threw himself at her, desperately attempting to hit her before she could swallow it. She pulled her mask down, her tilted smirk disappearing behind it.

-00-

Forty-five minutes later Crane and Kakashi met up back in the clearing. The taller of the two was covered in scrapes and bruises; his bangs damp and body a tingling kind of numb. The shorter was favoring his left side, his ribs bruised horribly from a successful hit by the General.

"How'd it go?" Kakashi plopped down on the grass, stretching his injured leg out in front of him with a relieved sigh. It had gotten caught between him and the ground when he had been knocked away.

Crane joined him, leaning his back against the tree behind them. "Last time I checked Rabbit has it. Butterfly is chasing her down."

"Panther has mine, but I don't think Bear can get it back," Kakashi laughed. "She ate it."

Crane stared down at him. "…She what?"

"She ate it," the child repeated with a smile. "Bear wasn't happy."

Crane huffed, tilting his head so that it rested on the bark. "That is not as surprising as I would like to pretend it is. Panther often finds… odd ways to succeed in her tasks."

"So she has the ability to see success then."

Crane didn't bother holding back his amused chuckle. "Yes, she certainly does."

He expected the child to start up his next wave of questions but the boy simply chose to join him in relaxing back against the tree with him. Crane did not complain. Instead he let his eyes drift up, following the clouds with his eyes as they floated overhead.

Now that he took the time to think about it the weather was quite nice today.

-00-

Rabbit danced into the clearing her heart light. Panther strolled in stoically behind her; Rabbit could tell she was pleased too. Bear tumbled in, wasting no time in collapsing on the grass. Butterfly shook off his anger when he fell, kneeling down to make sure he was okay. Bear waved him off.

"I'm fine," he said, words muffled by the grass he was pressing his face into. "Got poisoned a bit. Nothing to worry about."

Butterfly's gaze landed on the fresh bite mark on his arm, a bit of dried blood surrounding it.

"I have one!" Rabbit broke in suddenly, holding up her sphere like a trophy.

Panther reached under her mask and pulled hers out from where it had been resting against her tongue. Both Rabbit and Butterfly gave her wide-eyed looks.

"Oh!" Kakashi stood up suddenly. "Hold on, we have one too."

Crane folded his arms across his stomach leisurely as the others watched Kakashi dig a small hole next to the biggest tree in the clearing. He showed off the sphere that had been uncovered, choosing to completely ignore the befuddled stares of the others.

Crane joined them in staring when the boy walked back over to him and reached down to unfurl one of his hands, tucking the sphere against his palm and curling his fingers back over it. That had not been the plan.

"Hatake-" he sat up to hand it back, but the boy stepped away.

"You should take it," he refused, hands moving to rest in his pockets. "Besides, I need all of the training I can get."

Crane remained unsure, baffled at the gesture. Their original plan had been that Kakashi would keep the sphere and Crane would take the added hour onto his already extended time. It hadn't mattered to him if he had to work harder, the whole point of the plan had been to get Butterfly to open his eyes and see past himself.

Rabbit suddenly gasped. "Oh! You know what, I just realized. I haven't actually gone over poison, or poisonings, for months. That's not okay." With a light flick she tossed her sphere into the air and at Butterfly. "Here Butterfly, you take it. I should really be catching up on the things I keep falling behind on, otherwise Sensei will get mad at me."

Butterfly caught it, bewildered.

Bear shifted abruptly, tilting his head to look at Panther. She was already going to be staying the whole time anyway; she didn't actually _need_ her sphere so maybe-

She looked down at him and crushed the sphere in her hand, rubbing her fingers together afterwards to get rid of the remaining splinters of wood and dust.

He stuffed his face back into the dirt with a mournful moan.

_"We will start at the river,"_ Panther directed, motioning for them to follow her.

Rabbit reached down to pull Bear up, chattering happily as she started working the paralytic poison out of his system. Crane stood as well, absentmindedly brushing the dirt off his vest and pants. Kakashi was waiting for him and, as they prepared to leave, Crane extended his hand. The boy's eye curved as he reached out to shake it. They walked side by side, Crane answering each question the boy asked as they went.

Butterfly looked on after them before turning his focus onto the ball in his hand. The tips of his ears were burning again, but for slightly different reasons. With a hasty inhale he sent his chakra through the wood. It cracked and twisted, leaving only a few small splinters behind.

Brushing his hands off he hurried after his team.

-00-

Panther opened the door to her office in a surprisingly pleasant mood. Training had gone very, very well. Hatake was fitting in nicely, and was showing quite a bit of potential. In time he would no doubt become a great asset to both Anbu and the village, which is more than she could have ever hoped for when she took him in. Butterfly was also beginning to work through his pride more, something that had always been his greatest weakness. Crane and Rabbit were growing spectacularly, and Bear was turning some of his mother henning towards the young boy and away from her, which was always welcome.

Once the door was fully open her mood plummeted to shocked, then irritated, and then furious.

Three tall stacks of papers were laid on her desk that had not been there when she had left. Very few people could get into her office without her being there, and many of them had been with her during the entirety of the day.

With slow, measured steps she walked over to her desk, grabbed the stack of finished paper work that _had_ been there earlier, and walked back out.

No more.

-00-

The large stack of papers was set on the Hokage's desk carefully, no unnecessary pressure being added.

Sarutobi smiled cheerfully. "Thank you Panther, you are doing a wonderful job."

_"Anything for the village," _she signed smoothly. _"May I have permission to speak freely?"_

Sarutobi laughed. "I'm afraid I'm a bit busy right now Panther, perhaps we can talk later?"

She stared down at him, completely at ease. _"May I have permission to speak freely?"_

He tapped his fingers across the surface of his desk, weighing the consequences. "Are you quite sure this can not wait until-"

_"May I have permission to speak freely?"_

Sarutobi frowned, giving in to his fate. With a quick wave of his hand he dismissed the other Anbu guards (who shot out of the room faster than he had ever seen them move). "Permission granted."

Panther slammed her hands on the desk, making the stacks of paper jump a few inches into the air before they settled back into place. _"What exactly do you think you are playing at Hiruzen?" _her hands flew about angrily. _"I understand that this damnable situation is keeping you busy but what could have possibly made you decide to give me all of your thrice damned paperwork?! You know how busy I am, and now I have to watch over that kid like a hawk if I don't want him gallivanting off to Kami knows where! I have the Anbu to run, my own paperwork to do, your idiotic schemes to fix, and now you want to add more to that?!"_

Sarutobi twitched, leaning back in his chair slightly. "Well," he muttered, smiling slightly. "I haven't seen you this angry in years." He raised his hands in a show of peace when she clenched her fist. "Now, now, lets not jump to conclusions here. As you know this situation is very delicate. I need to focus all of my attention on this and as such I simply cannot spare the time to go over every tiny document the Council throws at me. I am entrusting this job to you because I believe you will not let me down. You are one I trust above all el-"

_"Bullshit!"_ Panther let out a low growl from the back of her throat. _"Don't try to pull one over on me Hiruzen. I've known you for far to long, don't think I don't know what this is really about." _

This time it was the Hokage who slammed his hands on the desk. "A leader is not meant to sit behind a desk and sign pieces of paper! I should be out there, protecting the people and making a difference with my own two hands!"

Panther rolled her eyes. _"Again with this! The Hokage is the trump card; you can't just be out in the field all the time! The more you fight the more likely it will become that someone will be able to counter you! As the leader you are our final line of defense if nothing else works, but if the world knows how you fight then they would have thought of something to counter that!"_

"I could get even stronger in battle! How am I supposed to grow to match my limitless potential if I am only able to do training in my off hours?" He scowled, leaning forward as well.

_"You are old!"_ Panther pointed at him dangerously, ignoring his affronted gasp. _"You are old and senile! The only things that can 'improve' at this point are your wrinkles!"_

"I am a Kage!"

_"Then prove it!" _Panther demanded, tilting her mask so that he could see the furious glare she was sending him. _"You used to brag about how you could handle anything anyone threw at you. Well here's your chance! If it is actually a real problem then create a new system where it won't be anymore! You're the fucking Professor, so start acting like it!"_

They glared at each other over the desk, shoulders tense and chakra spiking. It was a long few minutes before Sarutobi slumped down into his chair. Panther felt the anger slowly drain from her as he showed how tired he actually felt.

"There is so much to do Panther," he scrubbed a hand over his face tiredly. "So much, and there is quite a bit I can not even tell you. All of my goals, my dreams for this village…"

He turned his chair towards the window overlooking his home, a bittersweet smile twisting his lips.

"So many of them came true. So many wonderful things have happened in this place, to turn it into a community that helps one another and protects each other fiercely. But not all of them. Not nearly enough."

Panther let her hands slide off the smooth wood of the desk, stepping around it so she could stand next to him and look out beside him.

"There are so many problems still, and far more horrible ones to come. In the grand scheme of things a few things like these little papers seem so horribly insignificant."

Panther thought over her words carefully. It was rare to see Hiruzen this downtrodden, but not as rare as she wished it was.

_"Every small detail counts,"_ she finally settled on, knowing he could see her from the corner of his eye. _"You taught me that. Regardless of how small it may seem, in its absence the ripples would stretch wide."_

She wouldn't tell him why all of these papers would become important; he already knew that. One wrong document could mean a failed mission and lost lives. It could mean disrupting the economic progress of a business that sorely needed help. It could mean a request going unnoticed, and someone crying out for help never getting it. One missed paper could be meaningless, but there was always the chance that it would be something life changing to another. Those kinds of chances were ones she knew he would never take if he could help it.

_"Whatever trouble comes, things will turn out okay."_

He looked up at her, cheek smushed higher than it should be by the knuckles of his hand. "That is uncharacteristically positive of you."

_"Is it?"_ she smirked, mask tucked comfortably on the side of her head. _"I learned it from a friend of mine. He told me that perhaps life will be nothing but cruel to us. Every turn we take we will be met by adversity, and pain, and loss. When we die, we may regret everything we do, but our actions will outlive us. Every attempt to change the world leaves a mark, and some day those marks will build up enough to make a new, better world."_

"What is the point of trying to fix the world if you are not even there to see the good that comes from it?" he echoed back her own words from so long ago, gaze distant.

_"Because without a doubt, there will be people like you that are born again. People faced with pain and hardship with every step they take. And when the world offers them the help that you yourself were denied so long ago, the life you lived will have been worth every inch of pain you endured. You suffered in this generation so that they will not have to in theirs. As long as you tried your absolute best, your life will have been worth living. Your will of fire will never die, so long as they are there to carry it on."_

They stayed there, looking out as the sun set over their home. Hiruzen thought about his students, and the lives they would lead. About blond haired heroes, that would sacrifice everything to save the ones they loved. About a world so ravaged by sorrow and death, and yet where people still remained to make a better, brighter future. He thought about silver haired hopes, and the astounding resilience of second chances.

"Thank you," he spoke softly, not wanting to break the softened air around them.

_"Always Hiruzen."_

He smiled warmly at her, a sight she had been missing for far too long, and she returned it warmly.

_"You know I don't mind helping out at times,"_ she gestured towards his desk, _"but I do have a job to do."_

"Say no more," he waved her off. "I'll only ask you occasionally. And I will ask this time. I promise."

_"Then that is all I need. I will see you later then."_

"Goodbye Panther."

She crossed her arm over her heart, tapping it once before she disappeared. The small knot that had been forming in the base of his stomach from all of his worries loosened further at the gesture. With everything that had been happening, and with all of the things he had learned, he had been extending himself too far. His sympathy for Kakashi had grown deeper with every passing day, and oh how he wanted to help ease the burden on his shoulders.

He had almost completely forgotten about the burden upon his own until it threatened to crush him.

As the guards trickled back in, glancing around as though Panther would suddenly return to wreak havoc, he let out a small chuckle.

How lucky he was, then, to have people willing to carry that burden with him.

**Completeeeee! A look into the Hokage's more serious mindset and his friendship with Panther. Also, the reason why I described the lower half of her face this time, as opposed to all other times, is because this time Kakashi was there to see it. I won't describe her face unless he is the one who sees it and who knows? Maybe he never will…**

** We'll see. I hope you guys liked this one! I wanted to ask if you guys wanted me to write out each time the team trained together (two days a week for two months, so 15 more sessions) or if you just want me to brush over what happens during them. If you say yes then the chapters involving them will look a lot like this one. And remember, they won't have these group trainings forever! Let me know!**

**In terms of Minato being Kakashi's teacher again the votes so far have been:**

**Yes- 3**

**No- 2**

**Either way works for me, and even if he ends up with a different teacher he will still interact with Minato fairly regularly. Just not as much as he would if he was his student. **

**Thanks for reading all! **

**Chapter day: April first. Poor Butterfly just can't seem to catch a break. Crane and Kakashi had a lot of fun duping (tricking) everyone. Maybe it wasn't such a great idea to pair them up together…**

**Below is an explanation of some of the tricks in the chapter. If you don't want to know or already figured them out feel free to skip this bit!**

**1\. Kakashi was able to go to the underground tunnels and get back out thanks to the seals Crane gave to him before the mission started. They held earth chakra in them that let him burrow below the surface. And yes, the tunnels do connect below the base. Panther was very thorough.**

**2\. Butterfly did not realize Kakashi was no longer in the caves because his Byakugan does not work down there. He also chooses not to use his eyes every chance he can because he does not want to rely on them so heavily like his family does.**

**3\. During the escort mission Kakashi did not place the seals Bear gave him where he was supposed to. Instead, he placed them where they would benefit him and Crane in their mission. He also still has a few of them tucked away for, you know, emergencies.**

**4\. If Crane had been defeated in the first mission Kakashi would enter the caves and seek out Panther and Rabbit. He would use the two of them as a distraction so he could escape.**

**5\. Crane dropped one of the balls when he had folded his arm. Kakashi had kicked it back into a hole they had already dug and shuffled his feet to cover it up. Both teams assumed the other had the extra ball since neither Kakashi nor Crane had it on them.**

**6\. During their spare planning time on the first mission Crane and Kakashi gathered the herbs he had mentioned earlier to create the poison. As Kakashi was running away he smeared it over his teeth and waited for someone to try to grab him. Crane had made it into a paste so he could wash it out of his mouth easier.**

**7\. Crane constantly spoke as though he was the one in charge and coming up with all of the plans so that they would work against his plans (which they already had a good grasp of) instead of Kakashi's plans. It also made most of the team believe he would never actually work with Kakashi as a partner.**

**8\. Kakashi did in fact set up a few traps in the vents, just in case. They're still there...**


End file.
